


Happy Home

by thesoulsailor



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Barebacking, Blow Jobs, Gay Smut, Kid Fic, M/M, Rimming, daddy!Luke, firefighter!calum, punk!michael, student!ashton, tw minor character death, uni!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 22:47:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3226361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesoulsailor/pseuds/thesoulsailor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke is a single father without having ever slept with a girl, Ashton and Calum are his neighbours/support system, Michael is the reverse skunk-haired graphic designer with a preference of loud punk music that moves in next door and sometimes, family is who you choose them to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Without me by Eminem starts playing]  
> Greetings, loved ones!  
> This time I come bearing an kid fic, more precisely a Luke as a single father!AU! (If you haven't already gathered that from the tags and summary, hehe.) This has been in the back of my mind for a long time and I'm quite excited to finally write it. 
> 
> As always, this is a work of fiction, please don't forward it to the boys or godforbid their families. 
> 
> In addition to that it is important to note that this is NOT daddy!kink. One of the characters in this story is an actual child that calls Luke "daddy" as a synonym for "dad/papa/etc" and it would be just wrong to sexualise that in any kind.  
> Now enough of me talking. 
> 
> Enjoy! 
> 
> P.S. Sorry for the angsty prologue, the actual fic is not half as bad, promise.

_[two years earlier]_

The air inside the police station was stale, reeking of bad coffee, smoke and after hours. At first glance, Luke spotted two police officers on display. They were both sitting behind the long wooden reception desk, one on the phone, the other flipping through a stack of what Luke supposed to be crime reports. To his right was the waiting area, about half a dozen people seated on uncomfortable looking plastic chairs. Some were handcuffed, some not. The wall to his left was made out of glass, revealing a large bureau area, various other officers sitting at their desks, walking around or escorting criminals. He felt Ashton's calming hand on his back and swallowed.  _He could do this. He could do this._

''You can do this,'' Ashton whispered, his voice not carrying any false optimism, but earnestness. Luke felt nauseous. Clearing his throat, he stepped in front of the reception. ''Excuse me?''

The officer flipping through the papers stopped and looked up. ''Yes?''

 _Now. Now._  Luke hid his trembling fingers in the insides of his pocket, ''I... I got a call f-from Detective Ronan?''

''It's okay, Darrel, I got this.''

Luke startled and turned around, facing a worn looking man in his mid-forties. The older man was bulky, with buzzcut black hair and pale eyes. Luke swallowed and shook the extracted hand, taking in the dark uniform and golden badge.

''Detective Ronan. You are Luke Robert Hemmings?''

Luke nodded, ''Yeah.''

Somehow his answer didn't seem to satisfy Detective Ronan in the least.

"Follow me. Your chaperonage has to wait here, I fear."

Luke answered Ashton's questioning glance with a quick nod. A last squeeze to his shoulder and Ashton let him go. Hiding his shaking hands in the pockets of his coat, Luke followed Detective Ronan's burly figure through a side door, down a hallway and into a small room. The sparse furniture consisted of a sofa, couch table and tiny kitchen area.

"Have a seat."

Luke complied. Detective Ronan sat down opposite him and placed his hands in his lap.

"There is no way to amplify this, therefore I will be brutally honest with you. Is that okay?"

Luke nodded. He couldn't feel his limbs. The older man took a deep inhale, before he met Luke's eyes.

The next two minutes were a blur of blood rushing through Luke’s ears, ice flooding his veins and words like “car accident”, “full-frontal” and “your brother and sister-in-law” resonating against his skull.

_It’s not real, it’s not real._

''No, no.'' Luke shook his head. ''That's not possible, they...''

''I'm sorry, son. They were dead on the spot. We tried to contact your mother, but-''

"No!" Luke’s stomach flipped. Detective Ronan must have foreseen his reaction, because within seconds a rubbish bin was shoved into his hands. After he had stopped retching, the detective laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I know it’s hard to understand, but please know that there is nothing you could have done.”

''No, I… Zoe! Zoe, they have a daughter. She's barely a year old. Was she in the car? I mean, is she...''

Detective Ronan's features softened and he shook his head. ''Follow me.''

The older man lead him out of the room and down the hallway they had come from. Taking another turn, they ended up in front of what seemed to be a day care station. Through the glass of the window Luke could see several children, playing with toys or running around.

"Wait here."

Detective Ronan disappeared inside. Luke watched him talk to what seemed to be the woman in charge. They exchanged a few words, the woman looking at Luke through the glass once, then nodding. She disappeared out of Luke's vision and eventually came back with a small, familiar frame perched on her hip. Luke's knees got wobbly when the three of them walked towards him, a constant static drowning out all sound and thought.  _He couldn't do this_. He was nineteen years old and alone. Jack was not even on this continent, deployed somewhere that would prohibit him from receiving the message for weeks. And his mother... Luke was completely and utterly alone. Tears welled up in his eyes, as he saw the doorknob turn.

And then there was Zoe.

So small, so fragile, chubby hands reaching out for him, Ben's eyes staring back at him, blurred by steady saltwater pouring out of her eyes. Zoe was crying. A single sob escaped Luke's lips as he took the baby from the woman's arms and pressed her against him. The faint smell of raspberry-flavoured baby shampoo filled his nose as he buried his face in her blonde curls.

"It's okay now," Luke whispered. “Shhh, it’s okay, baby. Uncle Lukey is here now. Nothing's gonna happen to you now. I got you, haven’t I? Uncle Luke is going to take care of you. It's okay now, Zo. I'm here now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to let me know what you think via kudos, comments and/or on my [tumblr](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> xx, Carly


	2. Tattooed On My Arm

Luke was awoken by a bony finger, poking him in the cheek.

''Rise and shine, Rosebud," an all too familiar voice sang into his ear.

Groaning, Luke let his eyelids flutter open. He needed a moment to focus on the speaker. Clad in his usual black skinny jeans and the horrendous mustard-coloured shirt of the convenience store they both worked at, Ashton was grinning down at him. He had his muscular arms crossed in front of his chest. The green bandana taming his curls matched the hazel colour of his eyes. It took Luke about two more seconds until the meaning of Ashton's presence in his bedroom kicked in.

“Shit!” He jumped out of bed, nearly tripping over some of his books and a blueprint, he had worked on yesterday night. ''Wh-what time is it?''

Laughing, Ashton shot a glance at his watch. ''Half past seven. You've got ten minutes.''

''Shit!" Luke repeated. Hurriedly, he snatched up various parts of his own uniform from the ground before running off to the bathroom. While passing the kitchen, Luke sneaked a glance at Calum who was cooing over Zoe and feeding her breakfast, skillfully avoiding any rice pudding to land on his FRNSW shirt. The other man winked at him and Luke couldn't help but crack into a thankful smile. Then he disappeared into the bathroom. With his boxers still on, he hopped in the shower, trying not to whimper as the cold water hit his skin. Peeling the soaked fabric off his skin, Luke undressed and rinsed his hair as quickly as possible.

''Five minutes!'' Ashton called from outside the bathroom door. Cursing, Luke stepped out of the shower. As fast as possible he rubbed himself dry and slipped into his jeans – no easy task, considering their tightness and the way the fabric glued itself to his damp skin. But Luke had no time to adjust. Gurgling with mouthwash, he pulled his own work shirt over his head and buried his still wet hair under a beanie. Calum was waiting for him by the door when he came out, Zoe perched on his hip, her small pink backpack in hand.

''I'm gonna drop her off at daycare, you go! Ash is already waiting for you.''

Relief flooded Luke's veins as he wriggled into his jacket. ''Thank you, thank you, I love you!''

''No problem, Lukey,'' Calum laughed, his warm brown eyes crinkling. Luke would forever be grateful for his friends. Swiftly he pressed a kiss to Zoe's temple, inhaling the familiar scent of raspberries.

"Bye, baby.''

''Bye, Luwi.'' The two-year old squeaked and waved with her still chubby little hand. Luke snuggled her one last time before Calum shooed him out the door.

He nearly fell flat onto his face the moment he had left his apartment, though. Countless moving cartons were clogging up the outdoor hallway.

“What the-”  

“New neighbour,” Calum supplied from behind him. “3A, Ashton has met him. Says he’s an okay dude.”

“He’s an okay dude once he has moved all of his shit out of the way,” Luke grumbled, rubbing his knees. Then he hasted down the metal flight of stairs leading onto the car park in front of their apartment building. Ashton was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to some Fall Out Boy song when Luke slipped onto the passenger seat. The engine of the hatchback was already running.

''Just in time like always, dude, I'm impressed." Ashton grinned and steered the car onto the street.

*

*

So far their shift had dragged on slowly. While Ashton had made it his business to restock the shelves of the toiletries aisle, Luke had taken over till duty. Thankfully the counter protruded a little on his side, so he was able to hide his Architectural Design 307 book in the shadow of the excess length. Not that it would have made mattered either way. Mr Feldman, the store's manager, rarely showed up at the store, preferring to resort to “flying visits” as he called them.  

Plastering a smile on his face, Luke ringed up the pyramid of canned beans the old lady waiting in front of his counter had placed there. He wished her a good day when she scuttled out of the store. After that, Luke fixed his gaze back on introductory paragraph of the current page.

*

Zoe was already waiting for him when Luke entered the playroom of the Caterpillar Group. Her small pink backpack fixed on her back, she was sitting on the bench underneath the coat hooks, her tiny legs dangling in the air.

"Hey, baby," Luke announced his entry. Unceremoniously, he dropped to his knees and opened his arms.

There were few things in life that felt better than having your little one run towards you on wobbly legs and throw itself into your arms. Luke couldn't think of a single one while he hugged his daughter hello, inhaling the familiar scent of raspberry, baby and home. Zoe squeaked in delight as Luke scooped her up and whirled her around one, two, three times.

"You had a good day, baby?" Luke asked as soon as Zoe was perched safely on his hip.

The two-year old nodded, tugging on a strand of his quiff, her blue eyes bright. "Luwi."

"That's great. You ready to go home then?"

Another tug on his quiff.

"Alright! Buckle up, princess."

Zoe clung to the collar of his shirt and Luke strode towards the exit. They had nearly made it to the door, when a haggard frame positioned itself between the revolving door and the entry hall.

It was needless to say that the nurses at daycare loved him.

_"Easy mathematics, bro. You're a good-looking dude and a single father. Hence as responsible as they come."_

_"Yeah, but I'm also as gay as they come."_

_"Eh, minor details. Fact is that women see you as a perfect long-term mate. You gotta watch out for the cougars, Luke. It’s called the single dad effect."_

_"I... I am still gay?"_

_"Yeah, but they don't know that."_

Ashton had been right. The nurses all seemed to be somehow painfully oblivious to the subtle unsubtle hints concerning his sexuality, Luke was dropping on a regular. And he could drag Calum with him to pose as his fake boyfriend only so often before it either got weird or Ashton would claw his eyes out in his sleep. Thus Luke had resigned to simply ignoring the unwanted advances.

"Luke, lovely to see you," Mrs Jackson, the daycare's owner greeted him, two kids glued to her legs, one hanging from her arm. Unfortunately she was one of Luke's more persistent, not so secret admirers, albeit being easily twenty years older than him.

"Hi, Mrs Jackson! How are things going?"

"Ah, I can't complain. And you are you picking up the lovely Zoe?" Mrs Jackson's voice was sweet as sugar.

"Yeah, we gotta run actually. Calum is waiting for us at home, isn't he, Zo?"

It wasn't even a lie, technically. Calum was indeed waiting at Luke's flat for them. That he did that together with his boyfriend wasn't a detail Mrs Jackson necessarily had to know about.

"Palum!" Zoe cheered, clapping her hands against his cheeks. He formed an exited O with his mouth and beamed at her. Swerving around the other woman, he made a beeline for the door.

"See you tomorrow, Mrs Jackson!"

*

To his surprise, Luke found his flat empty when he came home. With a huff he pushed the door shut behind him with his foot and Zoe up his hip to get a better grip on her. After having dropped his messenger bag on the couch table, Luke surveyed the main room.

His flat was essentially one big room, containing living room, dinner table and kitchen area. Next to the kitchen lay the bathroom, the two bedrooms adjacent to the living room area. Toys and stuffed animals of all sizes were splattered all over the place, the dinner table buried under Luke’s blueprints and books. With a sigh he set Zoe down on her play rug and hurried into his bedroom. After having exchanged his skinny jeans and uniform for sweatpants and his oldest, rattiest and most beloved sweater, Luke picked his daughter back up and made the thirty-second long trip next door.

Ashton opened him with a relieved smile on his face. "Hey, Lukey. Sorry, we had to move to ours. Your stove is broken."

"Shi-shoot, really?"

Ashton nodded, flopping down on his couch. Calum and Ashton’s flat was basically an exact copy of Luke’s, minus the child accoutrement.

"Yup. No worries, though. Calum already called one of his friends from squad. He says the guy will make you a special price and all."

"Okay, yeah, that's… thank you.”

“No problem, bro.” Calum chimed in from the kitchen, where he was preparing dinner. Luke tried hard to keep the smile on his face, to not let his inner panic show. Even with the discount, a new stove was at least three hundred bucks - which... were exactly three hundred more than he could afford. Careful to keep his expression in check, he pulled out his phone and send a quick text.

“Hey, guys, uhm, Feldy has given me the night shift tomorrow, could you eventually, maybe babysit?”

“Friday is Date Night,” Calum said in the same moment, in which Ashton said, “We’ll do it.”

The couple had one of their silent micro-expression conversations before, eventually, Calum let out a sigh of resignation and turned towards Luke.

“We’ll do it.”

Ashton seemed to sense his discomfort because in the next moment, he squeezed his knee. “No worries, Lukey.”

“Yeah, I’m… I’m sorry. I didn't mean to ruin anything.”

It was then that Luke noticed Zoe’s questioning glance. As soon as he had given his okay, the two-year old squeaked in delight and climbed on top of Ashton. Giggling, she buried her tiny hands in his curls. Unfazed, Ashton started rubbing her back, while peeking over her blonde mess of curls, features breaking into a reassuring grin.  

“Don’t be sorry, Lukey. You don’t wanna know how many date nights Calum ruined because he was on on-call duty.”

“Hey, dude, I can perfectly hear you. Also may I remind you that you were the one who chose to date a firefighter?”

“I can’t help it.” Ashton winked at Luke when they got up to sit at the table.

“It’s the shoulder," Ashton sighed dreamily.

In retaliation Calum stole Zoe from his arms and shoved the cooking gloves at him. “You cook then and I'll get the cuddles, if it’s only my body you want.”

“No, I also want your-”

“No swear words in front of the baby!” Luke exclaimed.

Ashton pouted. “I was going to say ‘soul’.”

“Sure you were, babe.” Calum gave him a quick kiss as Ashton set down the pot full of Mac and Cheese on the table. They continued to bicker on for a while, while Luke watched his friends. He kept a smile on his face.

In order to get rid off the aching pull in his chest, he took Zoe from Calum’s arms and buried his nose in her hair. When he looked up again, he felt nothing but love for his family.

*

Luke was exhausted when he fell into bed that night. After he had bathed Zoe and put her to bed, he had finally come to finish the blueprint he was meant to hand in tomorrow. Now it was way past midnight and his eyelids were drifting close on their own accord.

Placing the babyphone on his nightstand, he stripped out of his sweater and shimmied out of his sweats, kicking them to the end of the mattress. Half asleep, Luke pulled open the bedside drawer. He only had to grope about for a few seconds until his fingers enclosed the cold plastic frame and he retrieved his hand.

The photograph was old, over fifteen years now. Gently Luke placed it on his knees, subconsciously lifting his hand to rub over the convoluted letters inked into his shoulder. Fixing his gaze on the right person on the picture, he began talking.

“Hey, Ben. Daily update: Zo is doing fine, Cal and Ash too. We’re all… it’s all well. Money’s a bit tight at the moment, but we’ll deal. In the end I always manage something, huh? Uhm… I’m sorry, I’m very tired. I promise, tomorrow I will tell you more. I miss you. But thanks for watching over us. Us against the world, am I right?”

He smiled into the thin air of his bedroom. Then he let his fingers trail down his skin to the crook of his arm. He dug his nails into the skin there, leaving crescent shapes. “Greet Stella from me. I love you. Night.”

Luke just so managed to lay the photo back into the drawer before he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think via kudos, comments and/or on my [tumblr](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> xx, Carly


	3. Is A Charm

Everything was dark when Luke opened his eyes, the indignant screaming of a two year-old making his head pound. A quick glance to the alarm clock on his bedside table told him it was a little after one am. With a groan he rolled out of bed and onto his feet, simultaneously snatching up the babyphone.

"Shh, shh, baby. It's alright, daddy's on his way. I'm on my way. Stop crying, Zoe, please." A slight curse escaped him as he stepped onto one of his books. "Shit- I mean shoot! You didn't hear that!"

Luke opened the door to his daughter's room. The first thing he did was wince. He didn't know what was worse. The closer proximity amping Zoe's screaming from loud to ear-splitting or the deafening Avenged Sevenfold that was sounding through the wall.

"What the-" Feeling his blood boil, Luke picked up his daughter and hoisted her onto his hip. Chubby little arms wrapped around his neck, a mixture of tears and snot dampening his shirt in seconds.

“Loud,” Zoe complained, voice small.

“Shh, shh, hey, it’s fine, baby.” Jiggling her up and down, pressing sweet little kisses to her hair, Luke carried his daughter into his own bedroom. “See it’s not as loud in here, is it?”

Zoe nodded and crawled to the top end of his bed, seemingly pleased to snuggle herself under the blankets. “Stay?”

Luke wanted to sigh. Zoe wasn’t a big talker, her sentences rarely consisted of more than one or two words. The doctors he had taken her to had told him not to worry, but Luke had googled it. Technically, Zoe should be babbling on like crazy. But she didn’t. Luke thought it might have something to do with the accident. Ashton had slapped him over the head with a women’s magazine when he had mentioned it. “Don’t worry too much, Luke. Just wait and see. She’ll come around when she’s ready.”

So that was what Luke did. He waited and didn’t pressure the two year-old. That didn’t mean that he didn’t let a few seconds pass, though, just to see if Zoe would elaborate. When she didn’t, Luke gave up and in.

“Yeah, sure, you can stay here. As an exception," he added the second sentence with a stern tone to his voice. He had needed almost half a year to break Zoe loose from wanting to sleep in his bedroom every night.

“Eggtion,” Zoe confirmed, shooting him a blinding smile. It wasn’t justifiable by any means, how much Luke melted whenever his daughter looked at him like that. She made grabby hands at him.

Luke had to shake his head. “I have to do something first, okay? Can you stay put? Don’t move?”

After a short period of contemplation, the two year-old nodded.

“Come back?” she called after him when Luke was already halfway out the door.

He turned around. “Of course. I’ll be back in no time, baby. Promise.”

Seemingly content, Zoe dumped her head onto his pillows. She rubbed the last remnants of tears into the sheets and Luke closed the door.

The moment he had stepped out of his flat, he was fuming again. There were people milling on the outdoor hallway. A lot of them. Someone was throwing a houseparty. Well, not someone. Luke knew exactly where all these people came from. Except for him and Calum and Ashton their apartment building was exclusively inhibited by pensioners, had been inhibited by pensioners. Fucking 3A. Luke had never met the guy and he was already ruining his life. And Zoe’s sleep schedule. A sleep schedule Luke had needed an excruciating amount of time to get her to follow.

“My god, get a fucking room," he barked at a couple making out against his kitchen window. The closer he got to the door at the beginning of the outdoor hallway, the more people he had to squeeze past.

"Fucking scene kids," Luke mumbled as he pushed past two boys with blue hair and face tattoos. On a second thought, he grabbed one of them.

"Whose party is this?" he bellowed over the angry punk music.

"Why you wanna know?" Smurf One slurred back, obviously wasted. "You a cop?"

"Yes." Luke rolled his eyes. He was surprised though, when the other boy's expression turned serious. Quickly, the other guy handed Smurf Two his bottle.

"Alright, officer. Follow me." Smurf One smiled at him as innocently as possible.

Luke wasn't sure what astounded him more, how drunk a person could be exactly (Luke was wearing pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt after all, very un-cop-esque) or that there used to be a time where he would have been one of the people around him. Smurf One pulled him to the kitchen area of the flat, an exact copy of Luke's own. Nearly a dozen people were crowded around the kitchen island. On top of it a body was sprawled out. Luke's eyes trailed over heavy combat boots, ripped skinny jeans and then an endless sea of pale skin. Drips of green ran down the soft lines of the body's stomach as a girl with asymmetrically cut hair and golden eyeliner licked the alcohol out of the body’s navel.

"Yo, Michael! Michael! Cops!"

Upon the last word, the body sat up, turned into a man, no a boy, merely older than Luke. Twenty-three, tops. There was an abundance of blonde hair with a thick, black stripe dyed through the middle, round features and ... was that a dangly earring? It wasn't something Luke would have ever considered sexy, it wasn't, but god the boy was, looked like a damn sex god.

The whole thing got worse when he opened his eyes. Pale and clear, Luke couldn't tell if his eyes were green or blue in the dim lighting. They landed on Smurf One first, then on Luke, did a double take. A grin revealed a straight row of sharp, little teeth. Predatory. Luke could see it in his eyes, in the mischievous lineaments around his mouth.  
Luke tilted his chin upwards, crossed his arms in front of his chest. No matter how good 3A, apparently named Michael, looked, or how bad Luke wanted to dig his nails into that stomach, he had come here with a reason. His composure faltered a little when Michael hopped off the kitchen counter, grabbed a towel and wiped his stomach off. By the time the other man had walked over, Luke had pulled himself together, however.

“Thanks, Justin.” Michael nodded at Smurf One who saluted and took his leave.

Then he turned towards Luke, grin widening. “You don’t look like a cop.” It was charming, really, it was.

Luke rolled his eyes. “Obviously, I’m not a cop.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.” Michael’s expression didn’t falter in the least.

“I’m Luke. I’m your neighbour.” With a polite smile, Luke stretched out his hand.

Michael blinked at him.

“3B?” Luke tried. The strain to overpower the blasting music made his cheeks heat up.

“Ahh.” Michael nodded, eyes twinkling with something Luke couldn’t quite decipher as Michael took his hand and shook it. “I mean, you’re not really in party attire, but I don’t think anybody will really care. C’mon, I’ll show you where the liquor is!”

“W-what?”

“Alcohol?” Michael shot him a questioning look. “That thing people drink at parties?

“You think- oh my god, no! I’m not here to party.”

This time, Michael’s smile faltered. “Oh.”

“Yeah, fucking, oh.” And suddenly, Luke got his anger back. “It’s one in the morning and you’re throwing a houseparty!”

“It’s a Moving In Party, actually.”

“I don’t care!” Luke threw his hands up. “Some people are trying to get their sleep here, okay?”

Michael blinked at him, cocking his head to the side. After a few seconds of nothing, Luke decided he had it enough. “Fine. How about this: Either you tone it down, or I’m going to call the cops!”

This time, Luke didn’t wait for an answer. Not dignifying Michael with another look, Luke turned around and shoved his way back out of the flat. It was not until he was snuggled up back in his bed, with Zoe pressed against his chest and the volume of the music outside dropping, that he thought he may had been a little too harsh.


	4. To Disarm

Luke woke up with the solid weight of his baby on his chest, tiny hands raking through his hair, tugging on the sweat-damp strands. Blinking against the sunlight falling in through the bedroom window, Luke pried his eyes open. He was met with gleaming blue orbs, merely an inch away from his face.

“Morning, baby.” He rasped out, coaxing a happy giggle out of Zoe. “Did you sleep well?”

Zoe puffed out her cheeks, nodding before smacking a hand onto his stomach.

“Mhm, alright, I understand. But you know what we have to do before that, yeah?”

A slight wince escaped him when Zoe sat up. Her knees digged into his ribs.Tongue darting out of her mouth in concentration, Zoe stretched out her palm.

Luke smiled. Then he let his fingers dance over her hand. “Let’s rock, let’s rock today.”

“Wock today, daddy!” Zoe confirmed and squealed when Luke scooped her up and carried her into the kitchen.

First things first, Luke switched on the radio when he entered the kitchen. The station was playing some low-key hipster beats. He could live with that.

Humming along, Luke placed his daughter in her high chair before he began roaming the fridge for something to cook breakfast with.

“Okay, let’s see. We’ve got eggs and we could eat toast with that?”

He held the food out for Zoe to evaluate. She scrunched up her nose. With a sigh, Luke closed the fridge and pulled open the drawer next to it.

“Oatmeal?”

An indignant huff.

“Okay, okay. It was worth a try. What about pancakes?”

Zoe beamed at him. Melting like a pathetic snowman in the sun at the sight, Luke opened the kitchen cabinet next to his head. “Pancakes it is!”

Zoe made grabby hands at the mix bottle when he placed it on the counter between them.

“You wanna help?”

“Help!” Zoe squealed, trying to wriggle onto her feet.

“Careful!” Luke had a minor heart attack. Zoe leaned forward, dangerously far over the tabletop of the high chair. He hurried around the counter and pulled her onto his hip before she could climb any further.

“Never do that again, Zo.” Heart still pounding in his chest, he pressed the toddler against his chest, burying his nose in her hair. Luke knew he was overreacting, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. That was his baby. He wouldn’t survive it if his baby got hurt.

Zoe seemed to be oblivious to it all. Happily, she snuggled into his neck, giggling into his ear. Luke inhaled a few raspberry-scented breaths, waited until his pulse had went back to normal. Then he set Zoe down on the kitchen counter, keeping a hand fisted into the back of her pyjama shirt as she crawled towards the middle of the counter. He pushed the bottom drawer of the counter open with his foot, retrieving bowl, whisk and everything else he needed for the batter.

“You wanna mix the batter?”

Wide-eyed, Zoe nodded. She closed her fingers around the handle of the whisk with a solemn expression before turning to him, looking for help as to what to do next.

“Like this.” Luke closed his hand around her fingers and guided her through the motions.

Once they had done the batter, Luke placed Zoe back in the high chair, out of the closer proximity of the sizzling butter in the pan. Breakfast was a quick affair. Luke was more than thankful that Zoe was out of the phase where she had refused to eat any food for breakfast that wasn’t mushed bananas.

The moment she was done, Zoe shoved her Dora the Explorer plate out of the way and reached syrup-sticky hands out. Luke shoved the remaining half of his own, final pancake into his mouth. He used his puffed out cheeks to pull faces at his daughter while he put the dishes into the sink. Then he finally picked her up, placing her on her knees next to the sink.

“Stick your hands in.”

The two year-old pouted at him.

“C’mon, Zo. Clean those dirty paws of yours. Please.” Mimicking her, Luke jutted out his bottom lip. That caused Zoe to giggle. Shooting him a suffering look, the toddler dipped her hands into the dishwater. Luke let her splash around for a bit while he turned up the radio. That was always his favourite part of breakfast.

Zoe wasn’t able to dance yet, not really, but she loved the music. And though her movements were a little bit out of rhythm, Luke could see that his daughter was perfectly content with jiggling her head and knees while he rinsed their plates.

As soon as the dishes were done, Luke let Zoe lead him into the living room. He had to crouch down a bit so she could pull his hand. He was released soon enough, though, when Zoe let go of him in favour of taking a run-up and catapulting herself onto the couch.

“Wanna see what’s on TV for you while daddy gets ready for work?”

“Sesame Street?” His daughter asked hopefully. Luke smiled. That was Ashton’s doing. As her unofficial godfather in charge, Ashton refused to let Zoe watch any children show that was produced after 2005. The curly-haired boy was adamant that these “ADHD-causing insults of good old Nickelodeon” were never to be seen by Zoe’s eyes. Sesame Street was one of the few exceptions from this rule, and hence special in the toddler’s eyes.

“Sure. Cuddle up.”

*

"So, do you remember Stephen, the bloke who fixed your stove?" Shoving his work shirt into his backpack, Ashton leaned against Luke's counter.

Zoe who was sitting on top of the panel offered him a hand full of slobby gummi bears which he declined with an apologetic smile.

"Uh, Sure. What about him?"

Of course, Luke remembered Stephen. After all he had just started his third Saturday afternoon shift of the month in order to pay the bill Stephen had handed him after the repair.

Calum who had come with Zoe to pick Ashton up said eagerly. “Stephen is really nice. One of the best firefighters we have.”

“I can second that. I’ve met him several times. A total catch.”   
Ooh. Oh. Luke should have known it beforehand. Frowning, he looked at his two best friends. “Guys.”

Ashton and Calum exchanged a quick look.

“Yes?” Calum asked while Ashton pretended to be busy closing the zipper of his backpack.

“Please, please tell me you’re not trying to set me up again?”

“Uhm no?”

“Ashton!”

“Hey! Why’s it my fault?”

“Oh, please, we both know you’re the matchmaker of you two!” Luke rolled his eyes. “Calum just supplies the contestants.”

“They’re not-”

“WinLukesHeart.com?” Pointedly, Luke raised an eyebrow.

“Lukey-” Calum tried, but Luke cut him off. “No.”

Determinedly, he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “No more matchmaking."

"But..."

"Listen, I know you two only mean the best for me, but seriously? I’m a twenty-one year-old uni student with a kid and a shitty full-time job. There aren’t exactly many dudes my age who are looking for someone like that. Not even one, as far as I know. But that’s okay, yeah? I’m happy. I got you, guys, and I’ve got Zoe."

The toddler squeaked at the mention of her name and wriggled towards him. Smiling, Luke pulled his daughter into his arms. Immediately, she snuggled up against his neck, burying her finger in his hair.

"A boyfriend is a thing I want, but nothing I'll ever need, okay?"

"Yeah sure, Lukey, we get that."

"Nonetheless." Ashton interrupted. “It wouldn't hurt to get laid."

Luke decided to take it the way Ashton had intended and laughed. "Yeah, probably."

Calum beamed and pulled out his phone.

"Oh my god, not Stephen though!"

"Why not?" Calum gave him the puppy eyes. "He said he's interested in you."

"I'm still perfectly capable of finding..." Luke covered Zoe's ears with his hands, coaxing a giggle out of her. "...a sex partner myself, thank you."

"Not as long as you call it a sex partner." Ashton laughed, taking the toddler from his arms and settling her on his hip.

"See you tomorrow!" He called, whilst dragging Calum out of the store.

Luke looked after them with an unbelieving shake of his head. As soon as he was alone, he slumped down on the tiny swivel-stool behind the counter and rubbed his eyes. It was ten am now. Eight hours left.

*

It was stupid.

“This is stupid.” Luke told his reflection in the four tiny windows of the apartment door. Muffled punk rock was sounding through the white furnished wood. For a moment, Luke contemplated just placing the cheap bottle of wine he had bought on the door mat. But then that would kind of not have the affect he was aiming for. With a sigh, he banged his fist against the door. Luke repeated the action after he had counted to twenty in his head. He was about to give up, when the door flew open and he was met with the sight of a very wet, very naked (again) Michael. He must have come straight out of the shower. Water was dripping from his hair onto his shoulders, his hand holding a towel around his waist.

"You're not wearing a shirt." Luke blurted out.

Michael blinked at him. He shook the wet strands matted against his forehead out of his eyes before a blinding grin took over his features. "Why, you're bothered by it?"

The way Michael said it was easy, teasing. But Luke heard the careful undertone, attentive. Luke had done a similar thing himself before. Michael was gauging his reaction, trying to figure out how uncomfortable Luke was with the idea of being accused of liking it. Michael was trying to figure out if Luke was a homophobe.

“No, actually.”

Michael’s eyes widened before the skin around them crinkled. His voice was a lot softer, less cocky, when he asked. "How can I help you this time, Luke?"

"I wanted to apologise. For yesterday night. I was kinda grumpy and... uhm... ruined your party." He kept his gaze on a drop swimming in the dip of Michael's collarbone as he handed the other man the bottle. “I bought you wine as a welcome present, kind of?”

Michael’s fingers brushed over his as he took the bottle. "Thank you."

"To good neighbourship." Luke pumped his fist in the air. That was until he realised what he was doing and quickly let it drop. “I mean, uh, I have to go… now.”

Before it could get any more awkward, Luke turned around. He moved to fast to see the smile on Michael’s falter. He had nearly made it to his door when Michael’s voice called him back.

“Hey, Luke?”

He spun back around. “Yes?”

Michael grinned at him, lifting the bottle of wine as if to salute him. “Not to mention it, but there’s a piece of gummi bear in your hair.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think via kudos, comments and/or on my [tumblr](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> xx, Carly


	5. All The Harm

Luke opened his mail box with a yawn that quickly turned into a groan as the pile of unopened bills landed to his feet. With a muttered curse he bent down to pick them up. Luke startled when he spotted a letter that was bigger than the others, heavier as well. Growing curious, he picked it up, weighed it in his hand before lifting it to his face. The envelope was pristine white, his address on the bottom. Humming, Luke flipped it around. As soon as he had read the first two lines of the sender’s address, his heart began to race. The envelope sailed to the ground, having slipped from his fingers. Luke felt like the paper had seared his skin.

 _No_ , he thought, followed by a violent shake of his head. His fingers were shaking when he scooped the envelope back up, along with the rest of the bills. In lack of a better idea, Luke threw them past the threshold and into his flat, slammed the door shut behind them. He knew they would still be waiting for him when he came back, _the_ letter would still be waiting for him when he came back. Now, however, he was safe. The door was between them. Forcing himself to calm, breathe normally, Luke hurried over to Calum and Ashton’s flat.

*

Luke nearly had a heart attack when he knocked on the apartment door with the number 3C on it. Because that was neither his curly-haired best friend nor the fireman opening the door. It was Michael, greeting him with an easy smile as if he was home here. “Hey.”

“Uh.” Luke failed to form words as he stared at the other man. At least Michael was wearing a shirt this time. Well, that was an understatement. Michael was not simply wearing a shirt. He was wearing three layers of white v-neck, red plaid and a black leather jacket that made him look he had fallen right of the cover of AP’s latest issue. Luke almost wished the shirtless version of him back. He was pretty sure that would have been easier to handle.

"Oh, hey, Lukey, finally! We were about to start without you." Calum appeared behind Michael, waving him into the flat. A confused smile appeared on his face when Luke didn't react. Calum perked up, though, after he had followed Luke's line of vision. "Oh, right, sorry. Luke, this is Michael. He lives in 3B. Michael this is-"

"Luke from 3A." Michael finished for him, sly smile lighting up his features. "We've met before."

"Oh." Calum looked lost for a moment. Then he grinned. “Amazing. C’mon in, Luke.”

“Right, c’mon in, Luke.” Before Luke knew what was happening, Michael was there, in his breathing space, pulling him into the flat. Helplessly, he stumbled forward. Luke crashed full-frontal into the side of Michael’s neck, his teeth pressing into soft skin.

 _Smells like pineapple_ , Luke thought before he was steadied by the hand Michael had wrapped around his upper arm.

Michael’s laughter was soft in his ears. “Whoah, you alright there?”

Quickly, Luke disentangled himself. He coughed. “I’m fine.”

Michael’s gaze was gleaming with mirth as he eyed him up and down. Then he nodded at Luke, close-mouthed smile creating tiny dimples on his cheeks. “Alright, then.”

With that, Michael sauntered off into the kitchen area to help Calum set the table. Luke was left standing next to the entrance door, trying to fight off the weird, tingly feeling in his stomach.

After having gained back his composure, he straightened his own top, a ratty old Nike sweatshirt that he was wearing solely because it was the most comfortable piece of clothing he owned. Luke didn’t regret it, okay. The grey complimented his eyes and matched his beanie. Nevermind the orange splatters of pasta sauce Zoe had smeared onto the kangaroo bag that refused to come out, no matter how often Luke put the sweatshirt into the washing machine. At least his hair was gummibear-free this time.

By the time he had made it to the table, Calum was already digging into his muesli and Michael was pouring himself some orange juice.

“You want some as well?” The dyed-haired boy asked him and Luke nodded, plastering the friendliest smile on his face he could muster. “Yes, please.”

It turned out to be manageable, the whole breakfast affair. Occasionally, Michael would ask Luke things or their knees would bump or sometimes, just sometimes, Luke caught Michael looking at him with this look in his eyes that, Luke was pretty sure, had the potential to ruin him, if he just held Michael’s gaze long enough. The rest of the time, Luke spent making light conversation with Calum and enjoying his Lucky Charms. His peace was ruined, however, when a loud clattering sounded from behind what Luke knew was the bathroom door. It was followed by the exact same door flying open and hitting to appendant wall with a bang, to reveal a very exasperated looking Ashton. The front of his shirt was drenched, water dripping from his curls onto his shoulders. He was bearing Zoe in his arms, as far away from him as possible. Luke barely had time to move his chair back before Ashton dumped his daughter onto Luke’s lap.

“That child has got some kitten in her. I can’t get her into the tub for the life of me. Your turn, paps.”

Luke shot his friend an apologetic smile. Then he looked down at Zoe who just smiled at him innocently, the guilty curve to her smile betraying her. With a sigh, Luke stood up, simultaneously lifting her onto his hip. He had just wanted one baby-free breakfast. Ashton’s offer to bathe Zoe for him had been a real blessing. One his daughter didn’t approve of, apparently. Not that Luke could actually be mad at her. Not when she tugged on his quiff and smacked a wet kiss on his cheek, anyway.

“Alright. We’ll be right back.” Luke said and made his way to the bathroom. He had nearly turned the handle when he heard Michael ask. “Whose is she?”

Luke could see his knuckles go white around the handle. He wanted to sigh. It had been fun, the flirting. Because that was what Michael had done. Luke wasn’t stupid. Michael had flirted with him and Luke had enjoyed it, had enjoyed pretending that he was oblivious to it. Luke sometimes even had shot a sassy remark back that just seemed to encourage the other man. Now that would be over. It always was. Schooling his expression into something neutral, Luke turned back around. Zoe’s hand on his heart soothed his pain.

“She’s mine.”

With that, he turned back around and pushed down the handle. Luke closed the door behind him before he could hear any of Michael’s reaction.

*

There was a fluffy, human-shaped burrito next to him on the bed when Luke woke up on Tuesday morning. Tuesdays were one of Luke’s favourite days as he neither had to work nor go to class until the afternoon. He got to sleep an hour longer than usual, _normally_. Now he was dragged into wakeness by his bedroom TV showing Ellen gifting the entire audience an iPad and the familiar stranger in his bed. A sob escaped from the mess of honey curls peeking out on top of the blanket burrito before being smothered by another spoon of Ben  & Jerry's. Luke's Ben & Jerry's.

"Ashton!"

The top half of the burrito turned to reveal the face of his best friend. Ashton's eyes were red-rimmed, cheeks wet. Luke gaped at him for only a moment, then he pushed himself up to land onto Ashton’s stomach, slinging his arms around the middle of the Ashton burrito. "Ash! What the hell happened?"

The other man merely whimpered before breaking into a full on sobbing session. Luke felt his blood heat up. There were only two things that got Ashton all riled up like this. The finale of Grey's Anatomy’s fifth season and Calum.

"I've told you, Ash, Izzie is a bitch for leaving later and doesn't deserve to be cried over. Also it was George's decision to jump in front of the bus, he wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

"N-no."

Ah. Calum then. Luke sighed, rubbing his best friend's back. "Okay, then what happened between Calum and you?"

"I-" Ashton broke off with a whimper. He frantically shook his head. "I can't say it. I can't."

Luke suppressed another sigh. "Well, you have to if you want me to help you."

Ashton looked at him. His bottom lip was still dangerously wobbling, but eventually he nodded. Wiping his nose with the back of his hand, he looked down at the ice cream pint in his lap. "I think that Calum is cheating on me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think via kudos, comments and/or on my [tumblr](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> xx, Carly


	6. Gotta Keep Myself Calm

Luke’s head jerked up. Flabbergasted, he searched for the other boy’s eyes. Ashton held his gaze for only a moment before he averted his eyes in order of shoving another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

“What?” Luke asked.

Ashton sniffled, shrugged.

“No, Ashton. What?! Why would you think that?” Luke violently shook his head. There was no way in hell that was true. Or so he thought. Luke felt his brows furrow. Desperately, he tried to recall the last few weeks. He hadn’t noticed anything odd, as far as Luke knew Calum had been completely normal.  

“He’s been distant.” With a sigh, Ashton set the Ben & Jerry’s pint onto Luke’s bedside table. “We went out for dinner yesterday and he spent the whole day glued to his phone. He never used to do that and now he is texting constantly. And when I asked him who was so important that they couldn’t wait for five seconds, he just mumbled and changed the topic.”

“Ashton.”

“And he’s always at the gym. What- what if he met someone there and-”

“Ashton!”

The curly-haired man looked up and at him. “What?”

“Breathe.” Luke rubbed his friend’s shoulder. “You are just driving yourself crazy.”

“Well, I will go crazy if I lose him, I-I can’t lose him Luke. I love him too much. I wouldn’t survive that.” Whimpering, Ashton flopped to the side. Luke draped himself over the Ashton ball and squished his nose into his best friend’s cheek.

Ashton rasped out a cough. “Ugh, go away.”

Luke grinned, blowing a raspberry into the crook of Ashton’s neck. Ashtons shrieked, wriggling to throw Luke off of him. “Luke!”

Laughing, Luke rolled off the couch and onto the floor. He extracted his finger to poke at the skin he had just violated. “If that becomes a hickey, you can tell Calum it was me. Now, breakfast?”

Ashton blinked at him. He closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh before he sniffed, plastered a smile onto his face. “Breakfast sounds good.”

*

Luke nudged the trunk of Ashton’s hatchback close with his chin. His arms were full with  a bag of groceries on the left and his baby on the right. Zoe giggled at Luke’s struggles, curling her fingers around the nape of his neck.

“Careful, daddy.”

As soon as the trunk had fallen close with a thud, Luke smiled at her. “See, got it.”

Zoe beamed at him, nuzzling his shoulder as he carried them up the stairs to their flat. Getting the keys out of his backpocket was a little more tricky. Zoe laughed as she was spun around while he tried to get the keys out by hopping in place. Cursing under his breath, Luke wriggled around. “C’mon, goddammit.”

“You need help there?” An amused voice asked to his right.

Luke startled to find a pair of green eyes fixed on him. Michael was leaning with his shoulder against the wall between their flats, an amused twitch to his mouth revealing barely concealed laughter.

“Stop, laughing at me.” Luke scowled. He felt his cheeks heat up.

“Mhm.” Michael pushed himself off the wall. A slight gasp escaped Luke when he felt Michael’s hand disappear into his back pocket.

“Got it.” Michael grinned at him, spinning the keys around his index finger before turning to open Luke’s door. Luke stared at him. His eyes trailed over the back of Michael’s head, blonde hair interrupted by a jetblack streak, Michael’s shoulders, stretching the fabric of his leather jacket, down his back and to his arse. Luke wanted to sigh. Michael had a really nice butt. Just when he was about the admire the way the black skinnies clung to Michael’s thighs, he was auled back into reality by a tiny, chubby hand landing on his cheek. Right. He shook the thoughts out of his head. Inappropriate. There was a toddler present.

Zoe poked her tongue out at him and Luke crossed his eyes in retaliation. They pulled faces at each other until someone cleared his throat.

“Here, let me.” Michael took the grocery bag out of his arm. The close proximity let the scent of body wash and pineapple waft into his nose. And Luke had to desperately, desperately pull himself together. Pushing Zoe up his hip, Luke followed Michael into his flat. The skunk-haired man was already in his kitchen, busy unpacking the groceries.

“Thank you.” Luke said, once he had placed Zoe on her play-rug.

“No problem.” Michael smiled at him. “Eggplants?” He held up the purple vegetable, laughing. “I thought these were only emojis.”

“No. I’m making a curry tonight.”

“You cook?” Michael’s eyes shone and Luke blinked. “Yeah, I mean… it’s curry.”

“I love curry.” Michael smiled.

Luke took a deep breath. “Well, you can join us? If you want, I mean? Calum and Ashton should come by in an hour or so anyways, so.”

“Oh, I’d love to, Luke.”

Michael saying his name did things to Luke’s stomach. Warm, tingly things. Luke’s thoughts were interrupted by the ear-splitting wail of a two year-old. Alarmed, he turned around and ran into the living room. He found Zoe sitting on the ground next to the couch table, the heavy glass orb Ashton had put in the middle of it as decor next to her.

“Zo!” Luke crouched down, scooping her up.

“Hurts.” Zoe sobbed, pointing to her left foot.

Cooing, Luke wrapped his hand around the foot, peppering kisses to the soft baby skin. “What did you do, baby?”

“Wanted the pretty ball, papa.” Zoe sniffed, burying her face in his neck, sobs shaking her tiny body. Whispering sweet nothings in her ear, Luke rubbed a hand over her back while he carried her into the kitchen.

“Everything alright?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, the foot is not broken. She’s just scared, I think.” Luke put Zoe in her high chair before turning to get her a piece of chocolate. When he turned back around it was to find Michael bent down in front of the high chair, crossing his eyes as Zoe tugged at his hair.

“Such a cute baby, you are.” Michael cooed. “What’s your name, little one?”

Zoe surveyed him with a contemplating look in her eyes, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Eventually, she smiled. “I am Zoe.” She held up her hand, folding away her thumb, index and little finger. “I am two.”

Michael shook her hand with his thumb. “Nice to meet you, Zoe. I am Michael. I am twenty-two. That’s twenty years older than you.”

Zoe giggled. “Your hair is funny.”

Michael jutted out his bottom lip. “Do you not like it?”

Zoe’s eyes went wide, her hands grabbing the hem of Michael’s shirt. “No, I like it.” She assured. “Iss pretty.”

“Aw, thank you, little one. Your hair is very pretty as well.”

Smiling shyly, Zoe let him go in order to touch hair pig tails. “Thanks. Uncle Ashton did it.”

Luke chose that moment to make his presence felt. If he would have to watch the interaction between Michael Zoe any longer, he might’ve melted. So he coughed,

“Alright, folks, we gotta start cooking now.”

“Michael rightened himself, ignoring Zoe’s sad pout. “Okay.”

He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s make that curry.”

*

The night air was cold, coaxed a shiver out of Luke’s body as he made himself comfortable against the damp brickwall next to his front door. It had been some time since he had last done this. Letting his head rest against the damp bricks,  He unsecrewed the bottle of Jack in his hands. The liquor shimmered clear, almost black, in the weak light of the lamp post from the parking lot beneath him.

The first sip burned like hell. Even in his best times, Luke had always struggled with drinking straight from the bottle. But he wouldn’t think about that right now. This was not a night to mourn what he had lost. This was about the problems in the present, the ones threatening to tear his life apart right now, again. Luke settled on smaller sips. Eventually, the burning stopped and turned into a sharp but bearable sensation down his throat.

Not the worst thing he had taken down there. The thought made Luke giggle. He could feel the buzz in his veins. The stars became brighter with every time he blinked and before he knew it, Luke was full on laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

Luke’s head whipped around upon the upon the voice. There was Michael, a few feet away from him, standing in front of his door. Fucking 3A, Luke thought and went into another fit of laughter. It had been two days since they had last seen each other.

“Everything is shit.” He wheezed out, eventually. Michael cocked his head to the side, light eyes scrutinising Luke intently before he pulled his keys out of his door and began to slowly walk towards Luke. “Are you drunk?”

That was funny. Luke didn’t know why.

“Yes, sir!” He saluted, then sunk back against the wall, laughing. Luke let his head loll to the side, after he had stopped, so he could look at the other man, now merely a foot away.

God, Michael was so pretty, with his two-coloured hair and distinctive features and plump, pink lips. Such a deep pink, such a perfect mouth. Luke wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips, feel them on his body, see them stretched around his dick. A dreamy sigh escaped his lips. “You are pretty.”

A small smile tugged on Michael’s lips. “Well, thank you. And you are hammered.”

Luke raised a finger, putting on a serious look. He couldn’t keep it up for long. Instead, he ended  up wrapping his hand around MIchael’s ankle - Michael had pretty legs as well - squeezing the muscle to get his attention. Luke smiled when he saw that he already got it.

“True.” He nodded.

Michael hummed. “Now that we have that one sorted out, do you want to tell me why everything is shit?”

Luke contemplated that for a moment. Then he decided to just fuck it. “Sit?”

Michael did, slid down the wall next to him. Their sides were pressed against each other. Reflexively, Luke inched closer, trying to leech as much body warmth off of Michael as he could. Michael let him. Their knees and shoes bumped, trackie-dacks against ripped skinny jeans, chucks against combat boots. Luke liked the sight, somehow.

“Booze?”

Michael declined with a silent shake of his head. Luke shrugged and took a sip.

He smiled when he took the bottle off his lips. “Basically, I have to become a hooker.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, oh.” Luke sighed. “Daycare called today. They are levying their fees next year and want a deposit now and I can’t afford that. And I can’t drop out of uni to take over a better-paying job than the one I have right now, either, because then I’ll never be able to afford a house with a garden for Zoe to play in. And she’s going to be a teenager some day and she’s gonna want clothes and make-up and an iPhone and that’s not really in it if you don’t have a degree. Hence I gotta become a hooker. Sell my body to closeted, old man that have a wife at home and other creepers.” Luke giggled. It was better than crying.

“Wow.” Michael said. “Everything is shit.”

Luke set the bottle to his lips, tipping his head back as he swallowed. He coughed at the burn and dumped his head onto Michael’s shoulder. He was thankful that the other man let him.

Michael’s voice was sharp when he spoke, not as casual as before. “You are not going to prostitute yourself, though, Luke.”

“I fear I don’t have much choice there.” Luke was only half-serious. Also desperate. “You have a better-” Luke stuttered when he felt Michael’s hand in his hair. “-plan?”

“Actually, I do.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to let me know what you think via kudos, comments and/or on my [tumblr](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> xx, Carly


	7. But The Truth Is You're Gone

“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Ashton asked as Luke gathered a few of Zoe’s plushies and stuffed them into the already overfilled nappy bag. Ashton was leaning against the door frame of the toddler’s room, arms crossed in front of his chest, eyebrows scrunched up.

With a sigh, Luke scrambled to his feet, swinging the bag over his shoulder. He kept his voice as calm as possible as he met Ashton’s gaze and answered. “He’s a graphic designer which means he works from home so he’s got the time. And with the money I save when I only give Zoe into daycare twice a week I can afford to work less shifts at the convenience store. Which then means more time to study and I can watch Zoe on the weekends myself, don’t have to ruin yours every time.”

“You don’t-”

“I know.” Luke smiled. “Just saying. But try to see the whole thing like this, it’s like I would give Zo to any other day mother.”

“Except your day mother looks like a 1960s Greaser and has reverse skunk hair.”

Luke frowned. “Just because he has dyed hair and prefers his jeans ripped doesn’t mean he’s a bad person.”

“Yeah, but has he ever watched a child?”

Luke sighed. “Zoe likes Michael. How many people does that apply to?”

Luke could see Ashton’s resolution crumble.

“She likes him.” Luke repeated. “That’s the most important thing. And it’s not like I have much else choice. I wrote him down all the necessities and the rest he’ll figure out like I did.”

At that Ashton’s hands flew up into the air. Letting out a dramatic gasp, he waved one hand  in between the two of them while placing the other akimbo. “Excuse you? We did.”

Luke smiled. “We did. It can’t be worse than teething, right?”

That coaxed a light giggle out of Ashton, the horrified undertone not going unnoticed by both of them. Ashton clapped Luke on the shoulder as the blonde man lead the way out. “It can not be worse than teething.”

*

Michael opened the door with a smile that was way too blinding for such an early hour. It was barely seven, for god’s sake. Luke could hear Ashton grumble behind him about happy people in the morning and coffee, Zoe in his arms squeaked and made grabby hands at Michael.

Pushing the door open further, Michael waved them inside. “Hey, guys, come on in!”

The first time Luke had set foot into Michael’s apartment he had been blinded by anger and drunken people. Empty and in the daylight, the flat revealed itself to be what Luke could only describe as “man cave” with its minimalistic furniture and being heavy on electronics. And it was meticulously clean. Not a corn of dust lay on any part of the grey furniture or the few red accents splattered all over the place in the form of pillows and vases.

Ashton seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Did you have to hide a corpse or why is it so clean in here?”

Horrified, Luke looked up from where he was sitting Zoe down on Michael’s sofa.

“I uh did some googling and they said that if you mop your floors every fortnight that reduces the chance of your child getting sick by half.” Michael told them, his cheeks and ears tinting red.

Luke felt something inside him melt and pour down his intestines. He couldn’t look away from Michael, could do nothing but stare at him. How was he even real.

“Mhm.” Ashton huffed, ignoring Luke’s scolding look, and walked back to the door. “You coming, Luke? We’re already running late and I have to open up the shop.”

Finally flicking his gaze away from Michael, Luke nodded and Ashton disappeared.

“Sorry about that.” Luke said, the moment Ashton had left. “He’s normally not that moody.”

To his surprise, Michael just laughed. “It’s alright. I get it.”

Luke’s answer was cut short by the sound of a car honking outside. With a sigh, Luke turned to his daughter instead and puckered his lips. Immediately, Zoe squished her mouth against his, curling her tiny fist into the collar of his work shirt.

“Bye, daddy.”

“Bye, baby. Uncle Mikey will look after you, okay?”   
Zoe blinked, looked at Michael, jutted her bottom lip out, looked back at Luke and nodded, her blonde curls bouncing.

“Alright.” Rubbing his thumb over her cheek in quick succession, Luke rose to his feet.

“I have to hand in some assignments after work so I’m going to be back at around seven? If anything happens, don’t hesitate to call me!”

Michael saluted. “Alright.”

“Back soon?” Zoe’s voice called after him when Luke was already at the door.

“Course, princess. I’ll be back in no time.” With a smile on his face and a heavy heart, he shut the door behind him. Luke spent a few seconds unmoving, watched through the four diamond-shaped windows around the spy of Michael’s door how Michael sat down next to Zoe and helped her crawl on top of his stomach. Luke could hear the other man laugh through the closed door when she buried her hand in his hair, pressed her favourite penguin plushie, the one Luke had bought her for her second birthday, against his cheek. Letting out the breath that had been stuck in his throat, Luke turned to walk down the stairs leading onto the car park.

*

Luke had made it until lunch break before he caved and looked at his phone. He had it on vibrating mode, so he would have known if Michael would have called, and he hadn’t. But it was possible that Luke just hadn’t noticed it, or that he had accidently touched the silent switch or- Luke’s heart stopped when he saw that Michael had texted him. Heart hammering in his chest, he scrambled to unlock his phone. His vision blurred. Cursing, Luke blinked.

A relieved sigh escaped him when his eyes finally focussed and he found Michael’s text to be a winking face. Underneath was picture attached of Zoe sitting on the carpet in front of Michael’s TV, playing with her The Little Mermaid dolls while the movie was showing on the screen behind her.

“What are you grinning at?”

Instead of an explanation, Luke just turned the screen of his phone so Ashton could see past the pile of toilet paper packs he was carrying.

“Well, at least he’s got taste in children’s movies.”

Luke furrowed his brows. “What is your problem?”

Ashton’s eyes went wide in mock innocence. Luke raised his brow and Ashton frowned, dropping all false pretense. “Fine, it’s just... I don’t trust him yet, okay?”

“Ashton.”

“How long have we known him, huh? Five minutes and what? Calum and he are gym-buddies already and your heart-eyes are bigger than the fricking moon.”

“Oh my god, Ashton.” Luke’s felt his eyes widen, his jaw drop, as he realised what was going on.

“What?” The curly-haired man scowled at him.

“You are jealous.”

“I am not!”

Grinning, Luke poked his best friend’s nipple, fully taking advantage of the fact Ashton couldn’t defend himself. “Yes, you are. Also I don’t have heart-eyes.” Now it was Luke’s turn to scowl.

Ashton huffed. “Fine, maybe I am. But he just, he hasn’t suffered yet, you know?”

“Aw.” Luke cooed, making kissy faces at the other man. “I’ll make sure to tell Zoe to be a tiny devil tomorrow, would that make you feel better?”

Ashton tilted his chin up and away. “Maybe.”

“Alright, then. Any more demands for the initiation ritual?”

“No, that’s all.”

“Great. Now let’s get back to work, our break ended two minutes ago.”

“If you can contain your daydreaming. I’m pretty sure you drooled on a few of those magazines you had to sort in this morning.”

“Ashton!”

“Don’t deny it, Hemmings. You have a crush on the day mother.”

“I-” Ashton didn’t give him a chance to answer. Giggling like mad, the curly-haired man disappeared into the toiletries aisle, leaving Luke in front of the break room.

*

“Again, thank you so much for doing this.”

Michael waved him off. “No problem. She was a gem, so.”

Luke suppressed the shudder that wanted to work its way through his body when Michael’s hand landed on the small of his back. Covering the effort up by plastering a smile onto his face, he took a step out of Michael’s proximity, a step closer to breathing normally, and trudged over to where Zoe was peacefully sleeping, sprawled out on a pillow of Michael’s, Mr Pingu pressed to her cheek.

“Hey, baby.” Gently, Luke coaxed his daughter into consciousness.

“Daddy?” Rubbing her eyes, Zoe blinked at him. Luke smiled. He knew the gesture from his childhood.

“Yeah, it’s me. It’s time to go home.”

Yawning, Zoe stretched her arms out, demanding to be carried. All too happily Luke complied. He had missed his baby over the day. Humming, he buried his nose in her hair as he carried her over to the door.

“Have a good night, Michael. Thank you again.”

Michael’s smile was soft when he opened the door for them. “Can’t wait for it. See you tomorrow.”

They were already out the door, when Zoe stirred on his shoulder.

“Bye, Mikey Mouse!” She squeaked, waving at Michael over Luke’s shoulder.

“Bye, Little Mermaid!” Michael was waving back enthusiastically when Luke turned around.

“Mikey Mouse?” He asked.

The skunk-haired man shrugged, his eyes gleaming. “She started calling me it after the moment you left.”

Zoe poked her tongue out innocently when Luke looked at her. He couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up in his chest. “Alright. Goodnight then, Mikey Mouse.”

“Goodnight, Luke.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think via kudos, comments and/or on my [tumblr](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> xx, Carly


	8. And There'll Be Times

The restaurant was small and lovely, dark wooden walls and italian furniture creating a hole-y, pleasant atmosphere.

"A friend of mine recommended me this place. Their tagliatelle are supposed to be a revelation." Greg smiled at him, that nice smile of his. “Nice” was a good word to describe the guy in general. Luke could see why Calum and Ashton had been so dead-bent on Luke going on a date with him. With his warm, dark features and well manners Greg almost seemed too good to be true.

“Yeah, we will see.” Luke smiled back and let the other man guide him to the hostess waiting for them at her console.

*

"Goddammit." Luke cursed as he missed his keyhole for the third time. A giggle bubbled up inside him at his own clumsiness. He was so uncoordinated. Also drunk. Before Luke could try it for the fourth time however, his door swung open. Luke stumbled forward into his apartment. He would’ve probably landed on Zoe’s Barbie Fairytopia walking bike if it wasn’t for the strong hands and the smell of pineapple steadying him.

"Luke?"

"Ah, whoopsie!” The giggling didn't seem to stop, every time Luke thought he had calmed down he just cracked up again. "That could’ve gone wrong. Thank you."

Appreciatively, Luke patted Michael's upper arm, getting distracted by the abundance of muscle for a moment. God, Michael was so strong. What Luke would give to feel these arms around him.

"God, you're so strong." Luke sighed dreamily.

"Luke, are you-" Michael's nostrils flared as he inhaled Luke's breath. "Are you drunk?"

"Yes."

Michael's eyes widened. "Weren't you supposed to be on a date?"

Luke was too busy holding himself upright to notice the stern undertone to Michael's voice at that.

"Yesss. Greg, Greggy, Greg was nice."

"Oh."

"And so", for emphasis Luke spread his arms wide out. Somehow he couldn't keep the dumb smile from his face, "boring."

"Oh." This time, Michael raised an eyebrow. Only one, though. Luke was jealous. He had always wanted to be able to do that. Pouting, he poked the eyebrow in question. Michael began smiling, encircling Luke's wrist and pulling him further into the flat.

"Okay, Jim Beam, let's get you on the couch. Then you can tell me all about your date."

"Sounds good." Willingly, Luke let Michael drag him into the flat, didn’t even protest when Michael pushed him down on his sofa and kneeled down to untie his shoes. How could he? Michael looked so great between his legs, looking up at him through those lashes.

As soon as his feet were free, Luke flopped to the side. He hummed when Michael lifted his head in order to sit down, placed Luke’s head back on his thigh. Luke had always been an affectionate drunk, he craved physical touch and Michael seemed so eager to give it.

“Pat my hair?”

“Sure.” Michael smiled down at him. His fingers scraped over Luke’s scalp a moment later, making the blonde man’s eyes flutter shut. It were times like these were Luke was indefinitely thankful for Michael’s existence and the friendship they had built over the past weeks. It had been easy. Dropping Zoe off and picking her back up at Michael’s apartment, had turned into invitations for breakfast and the exchanging of keys, a table set more at family dinner and this. Whenever Luke would be busy and Michael would jump in to watch Zoe, Michael would stay, wait up for Luke to come home. They were friends, best friends - even though Luke could never let Ashton hear that - and Luke loved every second of it.

“Now do tell about the date.”

“Oh god.” Giggling, Luke rolled onto his side, burying his face in the soft pudge of Michael’s tummy. “It was so horrible.” He whispered. “So, so horrible.”

“Mhm.” Michael’s hum reminded Luke of a kitten’s purr. The thought made him giggle again.

“Well, it started out fantastic. Super nice guy, fit as fuck.” The purring ceased.

“Until he started talking.” Luke cringed even at the memory. “He held a thirty minute monlogue about his iguana. His iguana, Michael.” Luke pried his eyes open and was pleased to find Michael looking back at him with the appropriate amount of horror in his eyes. Luke let his eyes droop close again. “And I’m pretty sure he still lives with his mom. If the rhapsody about her cooking was any indication.”

The purring started back up.

“In any case I needed a lot of wine to pull through.” Luke sighed dramatically. “Pretty sure by the end of the night, I just grabbed the bottle from the waiter. Can’t really remember.” Wriggling a bit to get more comfortable, Luke rubbed his forehead against Michael’s hip.

“So you’re not gonna call him?”

“No.” Luke smiled against the fabric of Michael’s flannel. “I told him our zodiac signs are incompatible. He was very understanding.”

Michael chuckled at that, the movement in Luke’s hair ceasing. “You tired?”

“Mhm. Was Zoe good?”

“Yep, sweet as an angel. A bit mopey that I put her to bed and not you, but otherwise fine. She asked if you would come back soon.”

Luke smiled at that, close-eyed. It was nice to know that he was still his daughter’s favourite person. It made it easier to deal with the immense love and fond he felt for her. Blindly, he reached a hand up until he had found Michael’s head. He groped until he was cupping Michael’s cheek. “Thank you, Michael. Thank you so much, I’m-” And he knew he was babbling, but Luke couldn’t help it. He pried his eyes open to gauge Michael’s reaction as he kept on talking, just getting the words out there, how glad he was that Michael was there, how much he liked him.

The longer Luke rambled on, the softer Michael’s features grew and it left Luke breathless. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the charge in the air, an amplified version of what had always been there between them, but in the end it didn’t really matter. Smiling, Luke tightened his grip on Michael’s head and pulled him down, crashing their lips together.

*

Luke was awoken by a sharp, cold sensation against his temple. Groaning, he pried his eyes open to be met with gleaming green irides, pale skin and a pink mouth smiling at him.

“Wake up, sunshine.” Michael lilted at him, lifting the glass of cold water from his temple to press it in his hand instead. “Here, drink some water.”

“Oh my god.” Luke whimpered at the light falling in through the blinds of his bedroom. His head was pounding. Gratefully, he took the Alka Seltzer Michael handed him next. He swallowed down the glass of water in three huge gulps, wiping his mouth afterwards. “I’m never drinking again.”

Luke startled when he caught the way Michael was looking at him. Expectantly, somehow.

“Is something wrong?”

At that, Michael furrowed his brows.

“What? Oh god, I didn’t do something embarassing last night, did I? Because,” Luke scratched the back of his head, willing the headache to go away, “I honestly can’t remember a thing.”

Michael’s eyes widened at that, his lips disappearing into a thin line. “You don’t remember?”

Hesitantly, Luke shook his head. “No? Did I do something bad?”

The skunk-haired man blinked at him. There was silence, long enough for Luke’s heart to start beating uncomfortably in his chest. And then Michael was shaking his head and smiling. “Nothing happened. Don’t worry about it, Luke.”

Before Luke could ask further, they were interrupted by a loud squeal, followed by the thundering of tiny feet over parquet. “What you do have to worry about is the fact that you promised Zoe to go to the zoo today.” Michael added with a grin.

Luke had barely time brace himself before his door bust open and his daughter was jumping on his bed, crawling on top of him, flopping the sleeves of her Minnie Mouse pyjamas against his cheeks. “Daddy!”

Luke winced at the volume of her voice. To his luck, Michael plucked her from his stomach the next moment and hoisted her on his hip instead. “Daddy’s not fully awake yet, Cinderella. Let’s go eat breakfast first, yes?”

Zoe pouted at Michael, her head flicking around to search Luke’s eyes. “Zoo, daddy.”

“I know, baby. We’ll go to the zoo today.”

Zoe squealed, fisting her tiny hands in Michael’s hair. “Mikey Mouse?”

Michael looked at Luke for help who couldn’t help but laugh. “I think she wants to know if you’ll come too.”

“Oh.” Michael’s face lit up. “Yeah, I’d love to! Do you want me to come along, Rapunzel?”

Zoe nodded, slapping her hands against Michael’s cheek with a giggle. The older man joined in. “Alright.”

“I’ll make us some pancakes. Go get ready.” Michael told him, already on the way to the door.

“Thank you, Michael! You’re the best!” Luke was too busy crawling out of bed to notice the slight trip in Michael’s step at his words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think via kudos, comments and/or on my [tumblr](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> xx, Carly


	9. When I'll Be Losing My Faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is late, I suck, but a lot of nice stuff happens in this chapter :) 
> 
> Disclaimer: I write in British grammar, meaning that pants are underwear. Just so no one gets confused, hehe. Also boys touching other boys. 
> 
> Whoever gets the TV show reference I make in this chapter will get a price and my eternal love. Well, the latter you already have. Now enjoy!

With a grunt, Luke crouched down and pulled the drawer open. His neck was beginning to strain where he had the phone jammed between his ear and shoulder.

“Okay, I’m there, what pair do you need exactly?”

Luke could hear Calum roll his eyes fondly over the line. “It’s underwear, Lukey, not my uniform. Just any pair. Stevens stole my spare one.”

Luke couldn’t help but frown upon that. “Who’s that?”

“New candidate. He’s inexperienced, didn’t bring a second set of clothes. I took pity on him.”

“Oh.” Luke bit his lip, closing his fist around a pair of navy boxer briefs. “Alright, I’ll be right there.”

“Thanks, Lukey, you’re the best.” Luke could hear the bell go off over the line. _”Ambulance 61, Squad 3, Truck 81, house fire”_ , a booming, female voice announced, followed by the sound of thundering footsteps. “Oh shit, I gotta go. Thanks again.”

“No problem. See you in a few.” The line went dead.

Luke was about to push the drawer of Calum’s dresser close when something caught his attention. Eyes growing wide, he pulled the drawer back open, hand flying to fumble for the small black box he had spotted. “No way.” He told the empty bedroom. Then he jumped up, pushed the boxer briefs into the half-full plastic bag and made a dash for the door.

*

Luke had waited in his car for about ten minutes when the fire engines rolled onto the forecourt of the firehouse. Pulling his beanie over his ears, Luke exited his car and sauntered over.

“Hey, Luke!” Calum greeted him. He was still in full gear, face almost unrecognisable through the dirt and ashes smeared on his face. The weak moonlight wasn’t helping either.  

“Hey, Cal.” Luke smiled and handed him the plastic bag containing boxer briefs, trackie dacks and a sweatshirt bearing the logo of the firehouse. “Here you go. One set of clothes.”

“You’re a saint.”

“Nah, just a good friend. Speaking of, can I talk to you alone for a second?”

*

Luke pushed his front door open to find Michael snoozing on his couch. Zoe was sprawled out on the dyed-haired man’s chest, eyes closed, breaths leaving her tiny body in a deep, steady rhythm. Luke couldn’t help but smile at the sight. The original plan had been to watch a movie with his daughter alone. They hadn’t been ten minutes into Aladdin, however, when Michael had sauntered into the flat and flopped down on the couch. He had stolen Luke’s popcorn and half of his blanket before Luke had even said hello. But Luke wasn’t that surprised. It had become a thing. At this point, Michael practically lived with them. He even had his own toothbrush, a pink Barbie one Zoe had donated him after the second time Michael had slept on their couch, too lazy to walk the three metres to his own flat after having stayed up to welcome Luke after a late night shift. Luke savoured it. Michael was company, company he loved.

Carefully, he plucked Zoe off of Michael and settled her on his hip instead. A short glance to the clock above the TV told him it was already way past midnight. Once Zoe’s still unconscious body was settled, Luke speed-walked into her room. Just as careful, he lay her back down in her bed. Luke was thankful she was already wearing her sleep onesie. Pressing a gentle kiss to his daughter’s temple, he pulled the duvet over her small body and tip-toed back out of the room. Michael was awake and sitting upright when Luke came back into the living room area.

“Hey.” The other man rasped out. Michael was blinking slowly, not fully awake yet.

“Hey.” Luke chirped back, settling down next to him. Not a second later, Michael’s head was on his shoulder. Luke smiled, bending his arm so he could card his fingers through Michael’s hair, something Michael loved as Luke had discovered.

“Did you give Calum his pants?”

“Yup.” Luke suppressed the urge to stretch. “They just came back from an operation. A house fire, or so.”

“Damn. I hope the people are fine.”

“Yeah, me too. Everything good here?”

Michael lifted his head to grin at Luke. “Can’t tell you. I think I fell asleep about five minutes after you left. Where’s the little one by the way?”

Luke turned to look at the closed door to his daughter’s room. “Put her to bed, already.”

When he turned back around, Michael was still looking at him. His light eyes shone green in the weak light of the TV. And Luke knew it would happen, even before Michael leaned forward, even before their lips brushed for the first time. It felt so familiar, kissing Michael, easy as breathing. Kissing Michael was natural and Luke savoured every single spark that went off in his mind, in his body. Moaning, he buried his fingers in the back of Michael’s henley. It was Michael who broke for air first, attacked Luke’s neck a second later. Luke used the opportunity to blurt out here. “Not here.”

Michael nodded in understanding, both their gazes flicking to Zoe’s door for a second. “Where?”

“My room. Soundproof walls, key’s in the lock.”

A dark grin spread over Michael’s face. “Good.”

Luke gasped as Michael scooped him up. He barely had the time to wrap his legs around Michael’s waist before the other man was walking. Not letting their mouths disconnect, Michael carried him to the bedroom. The flick of the lock made the back of Luke’s head tingle. Michael  wanted to lay Luke down on the bed, but Luke refused to disentangle his legs from around Michael’s waist, pulled him down with him instead.

Michael laughed as he landed on top of Luke, kissing the tip of his nose. “Eager, Hemmings.”

“Only for you, Clifford.” Luke shot back, tugging at Michael’s shirt. Michael’s answer got muffled by the fabric of the henley as Luke pulled it over his head. Luke had seen a shirtless Michael several times before, but this time was different. This time he was allowed to drool and touch as much as he wanted to, bury his fingernails in the soft flesh of Michael’s hips.

“Sorry, what was that.” He asked absentmindedly, tracing his fingers over the pale skin of Michael’s stomach.

“I said.” Michael smiled down at him. His pupils were blown wide, teeth grazing over Luke’s bottom lip as he pressed his tongue flat against Luke’s mouth before nudging it his tongue. “I hope so. Otherwise I’d be a bit offended. I’m not into sharing.”

Luke could tell by the hickeys that already began to bloom on his neck. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“Shut up.” Michael whined. “I am about to touch your dick, be nice to me.”

Luke smiled and cupped Michael’s face, looking him into the eyes earnestly. “I’m not into sharing either.”

Michael’s smile went soft. Cradling Luke’s face in return, he pressed their lips together. Luke had no idea how long they spent like this, just kissing, tongues sliding against each other, Michael grinding down at him in shallow thrusts. It was enough to get them both fully hard, and eventually make Luke squirm. Michael seemed to notice his need. With a hum, he detached his mouth from Luke’s jaw and pressed a sweet kiss to the sensitive spot before his ear instead.

The way Michael asked, voice all low and casual at the same time, was enough to make Luke’s hips buck up. “Want me to fuck you?”

“Yeah. I- yeah, please.”

Humming in content, Michael wriggled down the mattress in order to settle in between Luke’s thighs. Moving his thumbs in circles over Luke’s skin, he pushed Luke’s shirt up slowly, leaving a trail of wet kisses up his stomach. Luke could feel his muscles contract at the contact, his erection becoming painful. A low whine escaped him when Michael began to palm him through his sweatpants. “Such a nice body.” Michael told him. “Fuck, you don’t know how long I waited for this.”

Luke lifted his head up the mattress. “You did?”

Michael looked up at him with a cheshire cat smile and shrugged. Then he dedicated himself back to sucking bruises into the dip of Luke’s collarbones. “You got stuff?”

“Yeah, in my bedside table. Wait.” Reluctantly, Luke wriggled onto his stomach, reaching for the drawer of the small table. A low gasp escaped him when he felt Michael’s weight flop down on his back. Shaking his head in a vain attempt to focus on the task at hand and not the hand pushing down his sweatpants and boxer briefs, he pulled the drawer open. By the time he had retrieved lube and condoms, Michael was idly palming the flesh of his arse.

“H-here.”

“Thanks, babe.”

A peck to his shoulder and Michael was gone. Luke craned his neck to see Michael kicking off his jeans (no easy task considering their tightness) and pants. Luke pressed his face into his pillow when the mattress dipped again. A good decision, as it revealed itself to be a moment later. Luke had expected a lube-slick finger prodding at his hole. What he got instead was the wet, firm press of a tongue. He gasped out loud, the noise just so swallowed by the pillow. With a shaky breath, he lifted his head. His chin dug into his shoulder as he tried to look at Michael.  The reverse skunk-haired man was already looking at him, mischievous glint in his eyes. Michael kept lapping and working his tongue into Luke, effectively making the bottom of Luke’s spine prickle.

“Oh my god, Michael.” Luke gasped. He suppressed the urge to blindly lash at Michael when he felt the other man laugh against his arsecheek.

“Stop laughing at me, you- Michael!” Luke screamed when Michael sucked right at the bundle of nerves before continuing to circle his tongue. The next moment, Michael added a finger to stretch him open. Involuntarily, Luke bucked his hips up and into the mattress. A happy sigh escaped him at the much needed friction. Michael growled and slapped his free hand onto the back of Luke’s thigh, forcing him to stay put. Luke whined and Michael chuckled.

By the time he had two fingers and his tongue inside of Luke, the blonde man was nothing but an incoherent mess. A thin sheet of sweat was covering his skin and his hands were fisted into the sheets. Luke was nearly relieved when Michael pulled his fingers and tongue out. A little longer and he would have cried from overstimulation.

“Think you’re ready?”

“More than that.”

Instead of an answer, Michael smacked a kiss to his arse, biting on the soft flesh momentarily. The mattress dipped when the other man sat back. At the sound of the condom being ripped open, nervous excitement spread through Luke’s body. It had been quite a while and never something serious, nothing going further than desperate handjobs in club bathrooms and a few one night stands. This on the other hand, this was serious. This was Michael. He liked Michael. Even more than that if Luke was being honest. He wanted, no, he needed this to be more than a one time thing.

“Michael?”

Lube-slick fingers touched his hip. “Yes?”

Luke craned his neck to meet Michael’s gaze. The words were stuck in his throat. Michael seemed to get them nonetheless. Smiling softly, Michael folded himself over Luke’s back. The kiss was chaste, but deep. Luke smiled as the other man pulled away, hooked his chin over his shoulder instead and began nibbling on his throat.

Luke let his eyes flutter shut, focussed on his blood vessels popping. “Okay, go.”

Michael pushed in in one fluid motion and Luke grit his teeth.

“Alright.” Michael murmured into his skin. He was holding himself up on his elbows, enabling him to rub Luke’s arms with his fingertips. “Alright, you’re alright.”

Luke tried to breathe around the sting of the stretch. He hadn’t fully adjusted yet, but motioned Michael to go on nonetheless. They moaned in unison when Michael bottomed out.

“Fuck, Luke, feel so good. Fuck.”

Luke couldn’t do much more than exhale. “Michael.”

“Here, right here with you.” The other man intertwined the fingers of their right hands.

Luke let his face fall onto the pillow. “Move, you can move.”

Michael did, pushing back in, just to bottom back out almost immediately. Luke lost all feeling of time, then. There was nothing but Michael’s forehead pressed against the nape of his neck, the small grunts and groans he uttered every time he would rock his hips into Luke and his hands and lips roaming Luke’s body. Luke felt nothing but bliss as Michael pounded into him for what felt like hours and minutes at the same time.

*

“Oh my god.”

Sighing internally, Luke closed the door behind him. Before he met Ashton’s gaze, he set Zoe down on the floor. Happily, she waddled over to Calum who was cutting fruit in the kitchen area for their breakfast. “What the hell happened to you?”

Yawning, Luke scratched his chin. He had forgotten to shave this morning, to busy staring at Michael’s asleep form next to him. “Uh, I fell onto my vac?”

“Is that- are those hickeys? Luke Robert Hemmings!” Luke cringed. Zoe looked up curiously from the kitchen upon his name. Luke smiled at her. That was until Ashton slapped him on the chest to get his attention. The curly-haired man clutched his chest. “Where did you get those from? Who gave you those?”

“Uhm.” Luke considered finding an excuse. His plan was ruined, however, by Zoe blurting out a happy “Mikey Mouse!”

Luke knew she was referring to the shirt he was wearing, one of Michael’s many bandshirts. Ashton’s eyes went wide nonetheless. His jaw dropped upon Luke’s guilty expression.

“Oh my god, you did not.” Ashton looked near a heart attack. “Calum.” Blindly, Ashton groped behind him. “Calum, ears, now.”

Dutifully, Calum clasped his hands over ears of the toddler in the room. “Ear muffs are in place, babe.”

“You did not fuck your babysitter!” Ashton hissed on cue.

“Uh.”

“Luke! When we told you to get laid we weren’t talking about Michael!”

Now, that made Luke frown. “Hey! It’s still my decision who I sleep with!”

“Yeah, but-”

“Uhuh, no!” Luke raised his finger. “My decision.” He emphasised. “Besides, it’s Michael, okay? You know him guys, c’mon.”

“Yeah, we do. Still, he could have a criminal record.”

“He does not have a criminal record.”

“You don’t even know his intentions.”

That made Luke smile. “Yes, I do.”

“He could-” Ashton broke off. “Wait, what? How do you mean?”

“I mean that.” Luke inhaled, let Ashton and Calum suffer just that much longer. “He asked me to be his boyfriend this morning.”

 

 


	10. Because The Man Wasn't Good

Michael steered his car into the free parking spot a single mother in her Fiat had just cleared for him. Despite the fact that it was barely seven on a Wednesday morning, the parking lot in front of the train station was bustling. After Michael had made sure he had his keys, phone and wallet, he exited the car and made a beeline for the entrance. He didn’t need long to spot the person he was looking for. Ashton was standing next to one of the information pillars in the middle of the hall. He looked like some kind of cartoon villain, in all black everything, the hood of his jacket pulled over his head. Then, Michael looked presumably the same, in his equally dark clothes and leatherjacket.

“Dude!” Ashton greeted him, default smile turning into a frown. Next thing Michael knew, Ashton had him in a headlock, his hand down the back of Michael’s jacket.

“What the fuck?” Michael cried out. He was immediately silenced by an obscenely large hand clasping over his mouth. Lucky Calum.

“Shhh, you idiot. Stop creating commotion!” Ashton hissed, pulling the hood of Michael’s sweatshirt out of his jacket and over Michael’s head.

Brandishing with his arms, Michael freed himself. “What is wrong with you?”

Ashton rolled his eyes at him, decisively unimpressed. “I don’t know if anyone’s told you lately but your hair is quite noticeable. And we can’t have that today alright? So hood up for you.”

Grumbling, Michael rightened his clothes, but left the hood in place. “Alright. But before you come near me again can you please tell me what the hell is going on? Why did you wanna meet me here?”

Ashton smiled. “Glad that you asked. We- oh shit! Take cover!”

Michael yelped when Ashton pushed him against the pillar. “What the-”

“Shh!”

Michael craned his neck to see what Ashton was looking at. He was surprised to find a familiar thaft of blonde hair and appendant body. Luke was walking by, a mere three metres from them. Michael felt his heart rate speed up at the sight.

“Luke?” Michael asked. Luke looked good, in his usual skinnies and a green flannel that Michael identified as his own. The thought made Michael’s skin prickle pleasantly. He was about to call out for him, but was cut off by Ashton’s elbow in his stomach. “Ow!”

“Shut up!” The curly-haired man hissed. “Or he will see us.”

“But-”

“Nope.” Ashton raised his finger. “Alright, listen up. Luke’s gonna take a train pretty soon and we’re going to follow him. And it’s very, very important that he doesn’t see us. All clear?”

“Uh….”

“All clear?” Ashton repeated, more intently. He was terrifying like this. Despite being a tad smaller, he had a lot more muscle on him than Michael who was mostly soft edges.

“All clear.” Michael answered. A relieved sigh escaped him when Ashton let him go.

“Great. Now let’s go. We can’t lose him.”

Just like Ashton had said, they followed Luke onto a train to - as Michael read off the LED screen - Melbourne. Upon his inquiry what was supposed to be in Melbourne, Ashton just shrugged. “Don’t know. He picks randomly, I think.”

Michael realised then that he wouldn’t get any information out of Ashton, unless the other man wanted to give it to him. So he kept quiet during the trainride, busied himself with playing Bejeweled on his phone while Ashton across from him alternated between texting and peeking over Michael’s seat to get a glimpse at Luke who was farther down the compartment.

Once they had arrived in the city, it didn’t really get better. Michael had expected Luke to have a certain destination they were supposed to follow him to. Instead, the blonde man seemed to be just... strolling around. Over spending the morning in the shopping district (where Luke didn’t buy anything), to eating lunch at a small café and getting ice cream once the sun began to settle, Michael not once saw Luke even interact with someone.

“Ashton?” Michael asked sometime after lunch as they watched Luke snap a picture of a dog in the park they had wandered to.

“Mhm?”

“What the hell are we doing?”

The other man smiled. “We’re keeping an eye on him.”

“I don’t get it.”

Ashton shrugged and Michael gave up, turning his attention back to his boyfriend. At least watching Luke was a thing that would never be boring to Michael. All confusion aside, he kind of loved it. Loved to study the way Luke moved, and the sun caught in his hair and made his skin gleam. Luke was beautiful and Michael was in love. In love with his boyfriend. Michael grinned as they marched on.

It wasn’t until they were standing on the sidewalk opposite of a small movie theatre Luke had wandered into that Michael spoke again.

“You smoke?” Disbelieving, he stared at the cigarette in Ashton’s hand.

“Occasionally, mostly when I paint or uni stresses me out.” Ashton shrugged. “Don’t tell my boyfriend, though. He’s a firefighter, he doesn’t like smokers. Oh, also please don’t tell Luke, for that matter. He’d kick my ass.” Ashton flicked the lighter open and held the flame to the tip of the cigarette. Michael watched the first cloud of smoke billow out of his mouth. A thought crossed his mind. “You don’t do that around Zoe, do you?”

“Woah, daddy calm down.” Ashton raised his free hand, laughing. “Of course not! Luke would kill me! Hell, I’d kill me. I’d never do anything that could harm Zoe. I love that child more than my life. I helped raising her, afterall.” Ashton’s chest swelled with pride. “Not to boast or anything, but without me Luke would never have made it.”

Michael nodded. He had gathered something similar out of the stories Luke had told him before. After a short period of contemplation, Michael decided to just ask. "You really do love him, don't you?"

Ashton grinned at him. Michael could tell he was seeing straight through Michael, knew what he really wanted to know. "Of course.” The curly-haired man said, taking another drag. “Luke is like my brother, has been since secondary school. And I owe him the best thing in my life, so."

"What is that?"

"Calum." Ashton said simply. "Without Luke I never would have met him."

Michael shifted slightly on the wall, made himself more comfortable on the cold stone. "How come?"

A fond grin spread across Ashton's face, one he failed to hide behind his cigarette. "Six months ago Lukey dragged me to this kindergarten carnival thing, some of the parents had organised. In order to let the kids learn at least something, they had called the FRNSW and booked on of their shows. Cal was one of the firefighters they had sent."

Ashton shrugged, but Michael saw straight through his haughty facade, saw it in happy curve to Ashton's mouth and the pride gleaming in his eyes.

"That's ace, dude. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks, I'm happy too. When we were younger I like... well actually, Lukey and me... we got around, yeah? Two young, stupid lads in the city? We lived it all, slept around a lot and... I don't know. It was wild and fun, but I think ... the city gives you a lot, but she also takes away from you. Don't tell anybody, but when it all happened and Luke became a dad from one night to the other, a part of me was glad. That it was over, all the parties and the bullshit. I think I might have lost my best friend otherwise.” Ashton was silent for a moment, blowing the smoke out of his nostrils. “But Zoe grounded Lukey and gave him purpose. They saved each other. And even though she's not his daughter, she's still the most important thing in Luke's life, in all our lives, really. And I think you have to know that, if you want him."

Ashton’s gaze was sharp when he looked at Michael, clear like ground jewels. There were a thousand things reeling through Michael’s mind at that. Eventually he asked about the one detail that stood out most to him. "What do you mean Zoe’s not his daughter?”

“Oh, Zoe is Luke’s daughter. Luke is just not her father.”

“I don’t understand.”

Ashton smiled, mirthless. He flicked the butt of the cigarette to the ground, watched a lady in heels stomp over it. “Zoe is Luke’s niece. Her parents died in a car crash two years ago. Luke has another brother, but he’s serving in the army so.”

“Oh.” Michael felt his heart pick up pace. “What about parents?”

This time, the smile vanished from Ashton’s face, mouth disappearing into a thin line. “They exist.”

“Couldn’t they have taken her?”

“No.” Ashton looked up, let his gaze flick over the people walking by before he met Michael’s eyes. “No, they could not. They will never get her.”

Upon Michael’s silence, Ashton smiled. It was one of those smiles that were smiled in the face of catastrophes, Michael realised, when there was nothing else to do but smile. “Luke’s mum is a homophobe, Michael. She… there were nights when we considered it. Being held awake by a crying baby for thirty hours plus makes you consider murder, to be honest. The perspective of silence, oh heavenly silence, and not having to share a twin sized mattress anymore because you’re too poor to buy a crib so the baby gets the second bed, man, that was tempting. But we never did it. Because all that shit was better than having to live with the knowledge that we gave a defenseless little girl into the arms of that woman.” The tight set to Ashton’s jaw told Michael more than words ever could have. “Luke has cared for this child since his nineteenth year of being. Luke has changed Zoe diapers, held her when she cried and cheered her on when she made to discover the world. Zoe belongs to Luke. She is his daughter. And, yeah, Luke may oversleep sometimes, and he can’t buy her everything she wants, not yet anyways, but as long as Zoe is with him, she’ll always be safe. She’ll always be allowed to be herself, whoever that may be. As long as Zoe’s with Luke, she’ll always have a lot of love and a happy home.”

Michael could see such fond, such strong faith in his best friend in Ashton’s eyes. He felt the same feelings in his chest. Michael loved Luke, had loved him since the moment he had found him drunk of his arse in front of his door with nothing but grief and stars in his eyes.

“What I’m trying to say is”, Ashton placed a hand on his shoulder, “Luke doesn’t let people in that easily. So savour it, not only that he let you into his life, but also hers. Don’t fuck it up.”

Michael’s reply came easy. It had always been clear to him, now more than ever. “I won’t.”

“Great.” Ashton jumped off the wall, pulled Michael down by his sleeve and into a hug. “Otherwise I’ll get Calum to hold you down while I chop of your dick.” Ashton beamed at him. “Now c’mon the movie’s over, they’re coming out.”

They followed Luke down the street and watched him haul a cab. Michael couldn’t quite tell if it was him or their own cab driver who got more excited when Ashton told her to “follow the cab in front of us!”

Thirty minutes and fourty-six dollars of cab money later, they had ended up in front of a club downtown.

“Harlequin.” Ashton said, looking up at the neon sign at the front of the building. It was bright in the night. Pounding bass was making the asphalt beneath their feet vibrate. “That’s the same club as last year.”

“Last year? Luke has done this before?”

“Every year since the accident.” Ashton confirmed. “He calls it ‘getting lost in the city’. It’s what he does. Three hundred and sixty four days of the year Luke works himself to the bone. His birthday belongs to him.”

His birthday. Luke’s birthday. Michael hadn’t known that.

“C’mon, there’s enough people between us now, we can join the queue.” Willingly, Michael let Ashton pull him to the other side of the street.

The music inside the club was deafening, effectively shutting out every possibility of having a conversation whatsoever. That was intentionally so, though, Michael figured. People didn’t come here to have a conversation. They came to dance and drink.

Ashton and Michael had positioned themselves at the railing of the second floor gallery, giving them a perfect view on the moving, grinding mass below them. It made Michael’s stomach coil a bit, having to watch all these strange people touch, grope, grind against his boyfriend. He understood it, however. The person down there was not Luke. Down there was an old version of his boyfriend, the nostalgic reenactment of a long gone boy. Michael wouldn’t take that away from Luke because he was jealous. Michael had him in the present, afterall. So he kept silent as Ashton and him watched Luke dance with everyone who made him dance with them, rush down every beverage that was handed to him. It was a few hours later, when Luke stumbled out of the crowd and in the direction of the bathroom.

“Should we go after him?” Michael bellowed over the music. He was worried, and Ashton seemed too. The curly-haired man nodded and they began pushing their way through the crowd. By the time they had made it down the stairs, across the dance floor and into the stereotypically dingy bathroom, Michael was panting.

“Check the other cabins!” Ashton told him, making a beeline for the last cabin in the row. Michael was glad to see the lock wasn’t flicked. Quickly, he did as he was told, kicking the stall doors open with his foot. As soon as he was sure they were alone, he followed Ashton. It was then that he could hear it. The distinct sound of retching, previously overtoned by the music spilling in through the air slits of the door. Like that, Michael’s heart was pounding again. He blinked, rounded the corner to find Luke kneeling on the tiles, clinging to the metal bowl of the toilet. Ashton was standing with his legs apart above him, one arm slung around Luke’s middle, the other carding sweat-damp strands out of Luke’s face.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, Lukey. Get it all out.”

“Hurts.” The blonde man pressed out, then he was spewing again. From this close of a proximity, Michael could see how Luke’s skin was heated, his eyes bloodshot. Michael didn’t even want to imagine the massive hangover that was coming for Luke.

“I know, I know.” Ashton soothed in the meantime. “Hey, remember that summer we hid away in Mayfair and you got us involved with those weird hipsters? That night we got wasted with the guy with the beard?”

“Worst night of my life.”

“Exactly. You survived that, you can survive this.”

Instead of an answer, Luke buried his face in the toilet bowl again. Michael felt utterly useless as he watched Luke’s body shiver, cramp up and hurl over and over until finally, the last of alcohol seemed to have left the blonde man’s body. Ashton seemed to have sensed it, because in the next moment, he was falling to the ground, already there when Luke’s body collapsed.

“Woah, got you, buddy. Michael?”

It was like someone had kicked Michael in the shin. “Shit, yeah, sure, sorry.”

Michael hurried to help Ashton pull Luke into a halfways comfortable position on Ashton’s chest. By the time Michael let go, Luke was laughing. His vowels were slurred when he said.  “Was wondering when you two would show yourselves. Ashton does this every year.” Luke explained to Michael. “Follows me around town.”

“Friends don’t let other friend’s get wasted alone.” Ashton said.

“Friends, friends.” Luke sang. “You’re a good friend, Ashton, Ashy… Ashton.” Luke gripped the hand Ashton had rested on his chest. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion, seeing Luke’s expression crumble. The next words left Luke's mouth in a whisper, got louder with every syllable. “I miss him, Ashton. I can’t- I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I’m not him.” The words were slurred and Luke was crying, hysterically. “What if I mess it all up? What if she will grow up to hate me? I miss him so much, Ashton. I miss Ben. I miss my brother. I’m alone now. I miss my brother. I miss Ben.” Michael felt his heart break upon the wail Luke let out next. And Michael knew then, that this was it. This was the worst it could get. Michael knew then that he would never leave these people. He couldn’t even if he ever wanted to. This was his family now. So he did the only thing that came to his mind. Short-handedly, he flopped down on Luke’s lap, pulled the blonde man against him while he cried. Soon, he felt Ashton’s arms engulfing them.

“You are not alone.” Michael said. “You are not alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think via kudos, comments and/or on my tumblr [mikeykink](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> xx, Carly


	11. He Was Great

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sniffles* Yet another time we have made it. Endless love and adoration, to all of you brave warriors who have mad it this far. I wish all of you the happiest of homes, wherever you may find it. Enjoy the grande, extra long finale!

Luke hummed when he felt hands on his shoulders, gently massaging the muscles that he could tell were sore, even in his still half-asleep state.

"Don't stop." He murmured when the movement ceased, was replaced by chapped lips bumping against the shell of his ear.

"You gotta come to bed, Luke. It's three am." Michael's voice was soft, but unmistakeably scolding. Luke couldn't blame him. He had promised the last time this had happened it would be the last. And the time before that. With a groan he lifted his head off of his statistics book.

As he rubbed a hand over his face, Luke could feel the keyboard-shaped indents on the right side of his face. "Yeah, let me just. I just have to write the conclusion then I'm done with the paper."

Michael frowned at him. "The conclusion can wait, Luke. You need sleep. Now."

"No." Luke whined as Michael pulled him away from the dining table by his chair. "When I get it done now then I have the weekend free, please."

Michael sighed. "Luke." He walked around the chair, wedged Luke's legs apart with his knees before crouching down. "When you don't come to bed with me now, you'll be dead the whole day tomorrow."

Luke's eyes fluttered close as Michael’s hand cupped his cheek, calloused fingertips pressing against his jawbone. It was so easy to listen to Michael’s voice, soft and coaxing. Luke felt his resolution crumble. Letting the air stream out through his nose, he nodded, kept his eyes close as he leant forward and pressed their lips together. “Okay. You are right, okay.”

“Thank you.” The relief in Michael’s voice was deafening to Luke’s ears.

They hadn't talked about it, his birthday, what had happened in the bathroom of the club. But Luke knew there was a decision that Michael had made. He saw it in the way Michael would look at him when Luke was cooking dinner for them, heard it in the words Michael would whisper late and night and first thing in the morning. More than anything, Luke felt it whenever Michael touched him, the fleeting pressure of a hand when walking by, lips on his neck, on his mouth, Michael’s chest against his and his weight on top of Luke, arms around Luke’s body keeping him close.

 _What did I do to deserve you?_ Luke wanted to ask. _What can I do to make you stay?_

"I love you." Luke said, slowly prying his eyes open. It knocked the breath straight out of his lungs, how true his statement was. Luke was met with the beginnings of a blinding smile, edged into the corners of Michael's mouth, gleaming in his eyes.

Michael pulled him in by placing a hand on the small of Luke's back. He wrapped his arms around Luke's shoulders while Luke wrapped his legs around the other man's waist. A slight gasp escaped him when Michael picked him up.

Michael didn’t answer right away, but he didn’t have to. Luke saw it in Michael’s eyes as his body hit the sheets of his bed and Michael followed him, so much adoration in the light irides. Luke heard Michael mouth the words into his skin as Michael undressed him gently, without haste. Sleeping with Michael that night was a slow-burning sensation, panting into each others mouths and smaller fingers intertwining with Luke’s hand clamped in the sheets while Michael pushed into him deep, deeper, too deep as that they would ever be able to be separate entities again. Michael said it out loud afterwards, nothing more than a whisper in the heavy air of the bedroom. “I love you more.”

The first rays of light fell through the slits in the blinds and Luke fell asleep.

*

Luke was rightening the tiara on his head, just as somebody behind him wolf-whistled. “Damn, babe. You do make a pretty princess.”

Luke could feel his cheeks burn as he turned around. He wasn’t embarrassed about the crown he was wearing (the pink tutu, maybe) but in the end it was for his daughter, so there weren’t really any boundaries or society-inflicted gender roles Luke cared about.

"You broke the dress code, Michael. Everybody has to wear something pink.” Disapprovingly, Luke eyed the other man up and down, all black beanie to combat boots. “That’s why it’s called Pretty In Pink Party."

Michael grinned at him from where he was standing next to the buffer table like Luke was missing out on the joke. Which Luke wasn't, or so he thought. "Oh, but I am."  
And with that Michael pulled the beanie off his head, revealing that the reverse skunk was gone, had been replaced by hot pink. Luke's gasp was overtoned by the ear-piercing shriek Zoe uttered.

"Mikey Mouse!" The toddler screamed, abandoning her friends gathered around the picnic table in favour of running toward them. Bouncing up and down, she flailed before catapulting herself into Michael's arms. Michael caught her with practised ease. He laughed as Zoe buried her fists in the pink strands.

"You like it, princess?"

Zoe’s answer was an incoherent mess of vowels, squealing and giggles. Michael let her babble on for a good two minutes before he interrupted her, producing a small, pink-wrapped parcel out of his backpocket. He handed it to her with the words “Happy Birthday, Rapunzel.”

Luke watched in awe as Zoe calmed within the blink of an eye. It was like someone had plucked her cable out of the socket.

“Me?” The now three year-old asked with huge eyes.

Michael smiled, poking out his tongue as he nodded. “Yes, go ahead. Open it.”

Beaming, tiny fingers wrapped the pink paper apart. Inside was a sleek, midnight blue box.

“Oh my god.” Luke heard himself say when he recognised what it was. Michael looked up from where Zoe struggled to push the lid of the box open, winked at Luke before opening the box for her.

Zoe’s lips had fallen into a silent o by the time Luke had reached them.

“Want me to put it on you?” Luke asked. Zoe nodded, her eyes not leaving the small, golden heart laying in the middle of the box. A tiny Z enclosed by a heart was engraved in the front. After having fiddled the necklace out of it’s bed, Luke struggled a moment with the clasp, but eventually he managed to close it around Zoe’s neck. “Thank you.” Zoe said dutifully the moment Luke had let her go, smacking a kiss to Michael’s cheek. Michael beamed back, setting her to the ground. “Go and show it to your friends.”

Luke waited until the toddler had run off before he turned to Michael. “Please, tell me that was not solid gold.”

Michael’s smile faltered when he realised Luke was serious. “Uhm.”

“Michael!” Luke pinched the bridge of his nose. “What were you thinking?”

He was surprised to find the pink-haired man frowning at him when he looked up. “I was thinking that it’s Zoe’s birthday and I wanted to gift her something she can wear for the rest of her life.”

And with that, Michael pecked him on the lips before stomping off to where Calum was busy fending off the single mothers. Luke blinked a couple of times. Then he was clapped back into reality by Ashton who appeared next to him, arms crossed in front of his chest, scowl on his face.

“Look at that.” Ashton seethed, glaring at the lady who not so subtly was feeling up Calum’s bicep. “Like fucking vultures. Just because he came with the truck.”

Luke smiled. Zoe had freaked out when Calum had arrived at the park in his squad engine. This was also the reason why there were about half a dozen firefighters scattered in between the about thirty children milling around the picnic tables or bouncing in the bouncy castle (which was Ashton’s present). Luke was quite proud of the party he had organised. Everybody was happy, eating cake and dressed in pink. More than anything, Zoe seemed over the moon.

“I don’t think Calum really needs the whole real life hero bonus to make those ladies swoon. He has game enough as he is.”

“Hey!” Ashton growled. “On whose side are you here?”

 _I know something you don’t_ , Luke wanted to sing. Instead he just grinned and patted his best friend on the shoulder. “You’ll live.”

With that he left Ashton and walked over to the culprit responsible for his best friend’s pissy mood.

“Calum!” The raven-haired man looked up. Luke elbowed his way past the vultures. “It’s time.”

Calum bit his lip. “You sure?”

“Yup.”

Calum swallowed visibly, but nodded.

“Guys!” He called out. “It’s time!”

On cue, the firefighters present started moving, Putting down their plates full of cake and glittery party hats, they formed two rows.

“What’s happening?” One of the single mums asked.

“What’s happening?” Michael repeated, appearing next to Luke.

“You’ll see.” Grinning, Luke pecked him on the lips before hurrying over to Ashton.

“Ashy, Ashton! Come here, you bastard!” Ignoring his confused protests, Luke shoved the curly-haired man down the aisle the firefighters had formed. Content to have done his job, Luke returned to Michael. The arm of his boyfriend seemed like a good enough place to watch the show.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked again. Luke just shook his head and trained his eyes back on his two best friends. By now Ashton had made it down to where Calum was standing, hovering back and forth on his heels.

“Hey, babe.” Calum greeted his boyfriend.

“Calum.” Ashton said, eyeing the people around them warily. “What the hell is this?”

“Could you,” there was such overwhelming fond in Calum’s expression, such intense love that Luke had to close his eyes for a moment, “could you please shut up for a moment, babe?”

Ashton’s eyes went wide. Stunned, he obliged.

Seemingly content with Ashton’s silence, Calum took his hand.

“Oh my god.” Michael whispered beside Luke as he realised what was happening. More of the people around them seemed to have. Several gasps could be heard. One of the children squealed when Calum dropped to one knee. That was nothing against Ashton’s reaction. Heaving, the hazel-eyed man smothered the scream working its way out of his mouth with his free hand. “Calum.”

“Ashton.” Calum beamed back, squeezing the lighter skinned hand in his. “Can you wait til I’m done before you murder me?”

Ashton nodded furiously, eyes watering.

Calum smiled. “Great. Thank you.” Then his expression turned solemn. “Ashton.”

The curly-haired man let out a whimper.

“I wanted to do this like this, in front of a fire engine, in my uniform because that is how I met you, and I can honestly say that was the luckiest day of my life. So forgive me if I try to channel a bit of the same luck again, today.”

A few of the bystanders laughed and Luke inconspicuously wiped his eyes.

“I knew it was you from the moment you stepped into my life with your blinding smile and the request to ‘please, step up my game and give this kids a real show because firefighter demonstrations are supposed to be exciting’.” The crowd laughed and so did Calum. “I called my sister that night. Told her to buy a dress. The ring I bought a month after we moved in. You made it so easy for me to fall in love with you and I want to thank you for that. I want to thank you for keeping up with my insane work schedules and supporting me living my dream as a fireman.” The firefighters hollered. “I want to thank you for always forgiving me if I mess up dinner or ruin date night. I want to thank you for letting me love you. I do, love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else and I want to ask you with this ring.” Calum produced the small black box out of his pocket Luke had found a month ago. “For your permission to let me continue do so for the rest of my life. Our life, if you want it to be.”

There were a few moment of silence and then. “Yes, of course. Oh my god. Yes, I want to marry you!”

It was all a giant, happy turmoil after that. Luke was the first one to fight his way past the firefighters.

“Don’t tell me you knew about it!” Ashton screamed into his ear as he pulled Luke into a bruising hug.

“Maybe.”

“I hate you!”

“No, he doesn’t.” Calum added from Luke’s other side as he joined them.

“I’m so happy for you!”

“Thank you!” Calum mouthed before he and Ashton were whisked away by Calum’s sister.

“They seem very happy.” Michael commented when Luke returned to him, snuggled himself into his side. Humming, Luke closed his eyes, soaked in the August sun. “They are.”

"You know this could be us one day?"  
Startled, Luke ripped his eyes open. "What?"  
"I am serious." Michael smiled, such earnestness in his eyes that it made Luke's heart jump. He flicked his gaze away. "You don't mean that."   
"Huh? Of course I mean it! What makes you think I would joke about something like that?"  
Luke let his head fall. He had feared this conversation. The inevitable truth that their relationship had an expiration date. Luke wanted his voice to be strong, but failed. "I have a daughter, Michael. What about Zoe?"  
"Zoe? You think-" Michael laughed and Luke flinched. A light gasp escaped him when short but strong fingers enclosed his chin, made him look up. "I love Zoe, more than anything. Hell, I'd marry you just to be allowed to sit her forever. She's my daughter as well, Luke. She's mine too. Don't ever question that."   
Luke shook his head. "You don't know what you're talking about. You can’t… it’s too much responsibility. You’re twenty-two. I can’t chain you down like that."  
"I'll buy her ballet shoes." Michael's statement was loud and almost desperate. "Shit, if it's what she wants it I'll drive her to football practice every week. And if she gets in trouble at school, lord have mercy with that poor child or teacher because I won't have. I know what I am talking about, Luke. I am talking about raising her and being a parent, being her father just as much as you are. I am talking about being part of her life, and yours."

Luke’s heart was hammering against his rib cage. Michael’s word were spinning around in his head. “You might change your mind.”

“Not likely.”

“Why?”

“Because I am talking about forever, Luke. Sappily, and cheesy and honestly forever. I want this kind of forever. I want you and her and Calum and Ashton and a house and a dog named Scrappy. Don't ever think I don't. I want this life. It is my choice. And my choice is you.”

Luke felt his eyes prickle, his body mere seconds away from collapsing. “You sure?” He had to ask. He had to.

“Yes.” Michael said firmly, a quiet fit of laughter escaping his lips as Luke crashed into him.

“I love you so much.”

“Right back at you, baby.”

*

It was already past ten when the knock on the door came. Luke was busy puzzling the last cake-filled tupperware container into the fridge. Michael and Zoe were sprawled out on the couch. Since it was her birthday, Zoe had insisted on staying up as late as the grown-ups. Which was kind of ironic, considering that not only she but also Michael were passed out by now. Carefully not to wake them, Luke tiptoed to the door. If it was Calum, asking for another can of whipped cream, Luke might vomit all over him. He loved his friends, he did, but there were certain things he didn’t need to know, or imagine.

“Cal, I swear to god, just use chocolate sauce or-” The rest of the sentence got stuck in Luke’s throat as his brain processed the sight in front of him. Again and again, Luke’s eyes took in camouflage green clothes, golden skin, hair and blue eyes alike his. So much alike him, down to the lopsided smile. It felt like looking in a mirror.

“Hello, Luke.”

Luke didn’t manage more than an incoherent gargling sound.

“I sent you a letter?” _I know._ Luke wanted to say. _I couldn’t open it. I thought they were telling me you were dead._

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Luke felt himself sway as Michael appeared behind him. Yawning into Luke’s ear, Michael slung an arm around his waist, hooking his chin over Luke’s shoulder to see who he was talking to.

“Who are you?”

“Well.” The man at the door raised an eyebrow, his gaze flicking to the arm around Luke’s waist, Luke’s fingers automatically intertwining with Michael’s. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I’m Michael.” Suddenly, Michael’s tone became hard, daring. “I’m Luke’s boyfriend.”

It was then that Luke cracked and he was laughing, wheezing at the absurdity of it all.

The man at the door watched him for a couple of seconds, amusement curving his lips into a smile as he reached over Luke to offer Michael his hand to shake. “Nice to meet you, Michael, Luke’s boyfriend. I’m Jack, Luke’s brother.”

*

The fourth time, Michael didn’t want to get up. Determinedly, he pressed his eyes further shut. Maybe if he waited long enough the incessant crying coming from the babyphone would stop. It didn’t.

“C’mon.” Michael whined into the thin air of the bedroom. In a last, vain attempt to sleep on, Michael rolled over and buried his face in Luke’s pillow, inhaled the addicting scent of his boyfriend. It wasn’t enough the block out the toddler demanding his attention. Giving up, Michael kicked the duvet off of him and rolled out of bed. A short glimpse to the alarm clock on Luke’s bedside table told him it was almost midnight.

Zoe was already waiting for him when he stumbled in through the door, just like the last three times this night. The three year-old was sitting upright in her crib, face red as crocodile’s tears rolled down her cheeks, her hands reaching for him the moment he flicked on the light. Michael hoisted her up and onto his hip.

“Hey, Zoe, shhhh, c’mon little one, what’s wrong?”

"Mike-y." The two year-old sobbed into his collarbone, effectively drenching the fabric of his shirt in snot and tears. "W-want d-daddy."

Michael lightly bounced Zoe up and down, rubbed soothing circles into her back while doing so.

"Shh, I know, Ariel, I know, but he is sleeping right now, yeah? Just like you should be!"

Forcing a smile onto his face, he booped the small girl’s nose. The action caused Zoe to giggle. “Can you do that for me? Sleep a little bit? Today is a big day, you know?”

“Big day?”

“Yeah. You have to meet your uncle tomorrow. He is a prince, a mighty knight that has returned from war!”

“Oh.” Zoe wriggled excitedly in his arms. “Sword?”

“I don’t know if he has one, but we’ll ask him tomorrow, yeah? If you sleep real good now.”

“Okay. Love you.” Planting a kiss on his cheek, Zoe let herself be lowered back into her bed.

“Love you too, Merida. Sleep well.”

Making sure the nightlight was still plucked in, Michael pulled the door to the child’s bedroom close behind him. In the weak moonlight falling in through the window, Michael could make out the two asleep figures on the couch, both passed out from the exhaustion of the reunion. Luke had cried for a good two hours straight and even Jack who had been determined to not let his cool big brother facade crumble had shed a tear or two. Michael didn’t quite understand their dynamics yet. He was an only child. Sibling relationships were foreign to him. But he wasn’t too worried. Luke seemed happy, over the moon even. Michael would make sure it would stay that way. Nothing was going to happen to Luke now. Michael was going to make sure of it, was going to take care of whatever life would throw at his family. He was here now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to let me know what you think via kudos/comments or on my tumblr [mikeykink](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com/) or follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dendroluke) so we can be friends :) 
> 
> xx, Carly


End file.
